{"id":6602,"date":"2020-07-17T12:57:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T10:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=6602"},"modified":"2020-07-17T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T10:57:48","slug":"volvo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/07\/17\/volvo\/","title":{"rendered":"Volvo Forges Ahead with Electric, Vocational Trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volvo’s newly redesigned VHD vocational truck is poised for a new highway bill. Photo: Volvo<\/p>\n

Volvo Trucks North America isn\u2019t letting the COVID-19-related drop in truck sales and corporate layoffs keep it from moving ahead with its electric truck development and its latest vocational truck models.<\/p>\n

In a virtual press conference July 16, Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management, called these \u201cextraordinary times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we met at [the North American Commercial Vehicle Show] in Atlanta last year, we all knew then the market was going to come down in 2020, that is part of the business cycle. We had all planned for that. What we didn\u2019t plan for was the COVID situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Normally, he noted, Volvo announces a market forecast after each quarterly report, but there\u2019s just too much uncertainty to do that now.<\/p>\n

Overall inventory of trucks, he noted, has come significantly from pretty much record levels, do about a three, three-and-a-half month supply. As states and businesses started reopening in May and June, he said, \u201cretail sales and registrations have come up a little stronger than most have expected, and so have orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Magnus
\n

Magnus Koeck, Volvo Trucks North America vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management, discussed these \u201cextraordinary times.” Photo: Virtual press conference screen shot<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, he pointed to recent developments with some states pulling back on re-openings in response to a spike in coronavirus cases. Although we haven\u2019t seen a return to total lockdown, he said, those pullbacks \u201cwill have an immediate effect on transportation.\u201d For instance, he said, retailers may pull back on restocking inventory if it looks like in-person shopping is going to take another hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have and will see a positive momentum,\u201d Koeck said. \u201cWe know the third and fourth quarters will be stronger than the second quarter, and believe next year will be stronger still. But it\u2019s too early to tell how much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volvo\u2019s COVID-19 Response<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Koeck outlined some of the responses Volvo has had to the pandemic and the resulting virtual shutdown of the nation\u2019s economy. The company had to stop production for several weeks<\/a>, and Volvo globally had to lay off 4,100 people, including Volvo Trucks North America\u2019s \u201cfair share of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people in Volvo\u2019s Greensboro, North Carolina, headquarters are still working from home \u2013\u00a0including the Uptime Center<\/a>, which has seamlessly provided the same 24\/7 support to customers as before, he said.<\/p>\n

For customers, Volvo recently announced it was extending uptime service subscriptions<\/a> for free until the end of the year. \u201cOur financial company also helped out<\/a> in this situation when customers have had difficulties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Virtual Truck Walk-Arounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For customers taking delivery of new trucks, the pilot truck walkarounds normally conducted in the Volvo Trucks Customer Center in\u00a0Dublin, Virginia, have gone virtual. The virtual walk-arounds are also being used for potential customers and dealers to get a high-definition\u00a0look at the design and engineering details of truck models.<\/p>\n

In this immersive visual experience for those looking for an up-close review of a Volvo truck, customers get a first-hand look at truck details and the opportunity to provide input, even making\u00a0requests\u00a0or changes to their specification.<\/p>\n

While product experts present features and advantages of the truck, live images are shared from a high-definition webcam showcasing the truck\u2019s exterior and interior, as well as providing close-up undercarriage, powertrain, and suspension views that are very difficult to see in person \u2013 an advantage that likely will continue to be used even once in-person visits resume.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also found that the camera\u2019s small size and high definition let the customer get a close look at components and installations that are not easily accessible,\u201d said Rob Simpson, director, Volvo Trucks Customer Center. \u201cSo even with live customer visits, we will still use this technology to help them see more of our trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electric Trucks, New Vocational Updates<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The virtual walk-around are proving useful to help introduce fleets to the latest version of Volvo\u2019s VHD vocational truck. The disruption of COVID-19 caused Volvo to cancel its participation at ConExpo, where it was scheduled to launch the VHD, so it highlighted the features of the updated model during the virtual press event. (See related story.) <\/em>The VHD helps Volvo be well positioned ahead of a new highway bill likely for 2021 and housing being one of the brightest spots in current economic recovery number.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 also affected the market for its VAH, a specialty auto hauler based on the VHD, as auto production shut down and is still not back up to full levels. Nevertheless, Volvo recently announced an overhaul<\/a> of the model.<\/p>\n

Koeck emphasized that its electric-truck program is still moving forward. Just last month, Volvo Trucks North America deployed its first pilot\u00a0VNR\u00a0Electric\u00a0truck<\/a>\u00a0in Southern California\u00a0as part of the Volvo LIGHTS\u00a0(Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions)\u00a0project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn August, we will put the next two trucks in service,\u201d Koeck said, noting that so far they have received \u201cvery positive feedback\u201d from the dealers and drivers operating it.<\/p>\n

The potential impact of COVID-19 on the market for electric trucks cuts both ways, Koeck said. \u201cThe entire COVID situation all over the world has put more pressure on the environmental and sustainability questions. From that perspective you might could say that could accelerate the need or awareness of sustainable energy sources like battery-electric trucks,\u201d he said. On the other hand, he said, some state and local governments, with less tax revenue coming in due to COVID, may not have the money needed to provide incentives for zero-emissions vehicles.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t stopped 15 states and the District of Columbia from signing an agreement this week pledging to develop a plan to eliminate diesel emissions by 2050<\/a>. The National Zero-Emission Truck Coalition recently released its priority federal recommendations<\/a>, calling for federal funding of more than $2 billion for point-of-sale incentives to jumpstart zero-emission truck production during the current economic downturn.<\/p>\n

Koeck emphasized that total cost of ownership for the customer is an important factor at work in adoption of electric trucks. \u201cThe initial units, of course, will be significantly higher in terms of price. When volumes come up, especially on batteries\u2026 you get \u2026 better total cost of ownership calculations. If you can pair that up with incentives, that can definitely accelerate things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Koeck said, \u201cdiesel will still be the main fuel for long haul operations\u201d for a long time to come. Electric-truck adoption \u201cstarts with local distribution, then regional haul \u00ad\u2013 that is why we\u2019re putting the [electric] VNR out there early on \u2013 then it will come to long haul operations. But we are quite far from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Deborah Lockridge<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Source:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.truckinginfo.com<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Volvo’s newly redesigned VHD vocational truck is poised for a new highway bill. Photo: Volvo Volvo Trucks North America isn\u2019t letting the COVID-19-related drop in truck sales and corporate layoffs keep it from moving ahead with its electric truck development and its latest vocational truck models. In a virtual press conference July 16, Magnus Koeck,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6604,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602\/revisions\/6604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}