Friday 11 November 2022

Volvo delivers first electric trucks with fossil-free steel

Volvo has started delivering the first electric trucks with fossil-free steel to its customers.

It follows the start of production of the heavy-duty electric trucks in September this year, with the fossil-free steel produced by Swedish manufacturer SSAB, made using new technology with green electricity and hydrogen.

The first steel produced with hydrogen is being used in the electric truck's frame rails, the backbone of the truck upon which all other main components are mounted.

As the availability of fossil-free steel increases, it will also be introduced in other parts of the truck.

Around 30% of the materials in a new Volvo truck currently come from recycled materials.

In addition, 90% of the truck can be recycled at the end of its life.

Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Volvo Trucks said: “Our journey to net zero emissions includes both making our vehicles fossil free in operation and over time fully replacing the material in our trucks with fossil-free and recycled alternatives.”

Customers that will have the fossil-free steel in some of their electric trucks are Amazon and DFDS.

Andreas Marschner, Vice President Transportation Services Europe at Amazon added: “At Amazon, we are on the way to make all of our operations net zero carbon by 2040. We need partners like Volvo to make this transition happen.”