Volvo Trucks announced today the launch of a new heavy-duty electric truck for the North American market, with significantly expanded range and energy storage capacity compared with its current model.

The Volvo VNR Electric truck model forms part of Volvo’s all-electric heavy duty truck line, which the company launched in November 2020. The initial class 8 VNR model was introduced in North America in late 2020, featuring a 240 km range. The enhanced VNR, featuring improved battery design and a six battery option will see this range increase 85% to 440 km, with energy storage of up to 565kWh.

Peter Voorhoeve, President, Volvo Trucks North America.

“It is a testament to Volvo Trucks’ leadership in a continuously evolving industry that we are bringing the enhanced version of our VNR Electric to the market only a year after sales of the VNR Electric first started.”

According to the company, the truck also features reduced charging time, with the capability for an 80% charge in 90 minutes for the six-battery package, and 60 minutes for the four-battery package.

Volvo has been actively expanding its electric truck lineup, starting with the introduction of its first medium-duty electric trucks in 2019. The company has announced a goal to have electric trucks make up half of its truck sales by 2030.

Roger Alm, President, Volvo Trucks, said:

“We are determined to lead the transformation of the transport industry. In only eight years’ time, our goal is that half of our global truck sales are electric. The interest among customers is high, and it’s quickly becoming a competitive advantage for transporters to be able to offer electric, sustainable transports. That is very encouraging,”