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usonian

(19,023 posts)
Mon Jun 30, 2025, 08:54 PM Jun 30

Volvo delivers 5,000th electric semi with little fanfare, sending a BIG message

https://electrek.co/2025/06/29/volvo-delivers-5000th-electric-semi-with-little-fanfare-sending-a-big-message/

With the Tesla Semi making headlines consistently since its first public appearance waaay back back in 2017, you might think they were some kind of market leaders. Meanwhile, Volvo Trucks has quietly delivered its 5,000th electric semi truck … and they’re just getting started.

Volvo delivered its first all electric semi truck 2019. Since then, Volvo customers in more than 50 countries around the world have logged more than 100 million miles (170 million km – and almost half of that in the last 14 months as the size of its deployed fleet grows) in real-world commercial operations, eliminating massive amounts of CO2 and NOx emissions and reducing traffic noise. All the while, they’re making life a little cleaner and quieter for the people who live and work near the roads they travel.

...

They say comparison is the thief of joy. That’s especially true if you suck and you compare yourself to people who are awesome – and since Elon sucks like it’s his job, I’m thieving a ton of joy by comparing the 140-odd number of Tesla Semi trucks out there to Volvo’s much larger, less-sucky 5,000-plus number.

--- pitiful Tesla Semi facts here ---

That seems especially true in Europe, where Volvo Trucks has established itself as the leader in the heavy electric truck segment for the last five consecutive years with a 47% market share – though the story is a bit different the US and Canada, however, where Volvo’s share of the electric truck segment was “just” 40% in 2024.


NOTE:
AB Volvo is Swedish. They still manufacture heavy vehicles (trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine systems, etc.).

The passenger car business, Volvo Cars, was sold to Ford in 1999 and later bought by Geely:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars

Via Hacker News:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44429367
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Volvo delivers 5,000th electric semi with little fanfare, sending a BIG message (Original Post) usonian Jun 30 OP
Nice looking trucks Delarage Jun 30 #1
Their dealer network map is truncated but populated. usonian Jun 30 #2
Nice step in the right direction, but 275 mile range for a semi Emile Jul 1 #3
That is 12 hours of driving at 50 mph. Old Crank Jul 2 #4
I drove from Covington, Indiana to Veedersburg, Indiana. Emile Jul 2 #5
So not a normal cab route. Old Crank Jul 2 #6

usonian

(19,023 posts)
2. Their dealer network map is truncated but populated.
Mon Jun 30, 2025, 11:46 PM
Jun 30


Two speed automatic! Return of the Powerglide!

Emile

(35,890 posts)
3. Nice step in the right direction, but 275 mile range for a semi
Tue Jul 1, 2025, 07:43 AM
Jul 1

Last edited Wed Jul 2, 2025, 07:29 AM - Edit history (2)

ain't going to get it.

My last job before retirement, was driving a day cab 600 miles every day locally.

Purdue engineering students were working on highways that would charge your electric vehicles as you drove down the road. I need to check in on their progress.

https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2024/Q2/building-the-first-highway-segment-in-the-u-s-that-can-charge-electric-vehicles-big-and-small-as-they-drive

Old Crank

(5,906 posts)
4. That is 12 hours of driving at 50 mph.
Wed Jul 2, 2025, 07:52 AM
Jul 2

You must have lived in your cab and driven 24 hrs straight. Ranges given are now around 600 kilometers or 360 miles. There are plenty of places that a semi could run with a 300 mile range, about 6 hours straight driving. I would guess that most of them are in places with shorter runs. Switching the trucks coming out of the Port of Oakland would be a great step in lowering pollution.

Emile

(35,890 posts)
5. I drove from Covington, Indiana to Veedersburg, Indiana.
Wed Jul 2, 2025, 08:15 AM
Jul 2

Veedersburg I would hook to my loaded trailer and drive to Grand Haven, Michigan and do a drop and hook. I would then drive back to Veedersburg and drop the trailer, then back to Covington and refuel for the next driver to repeat almost the same run, but his was to Kalamazoo. I did this 3,000 mile week and home every night for almost 8 years.

Old Crank

(5,906 posts)
6. So not a normal cab route.
Wed Jul 2, 2025, 11:00 AM
Jul 2

This sounds like a special case.

Judging the value of a truck's range based on outliers doesn't do much. The range will get better and companies will buy the vehicles which suit their purpose.

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