Electric giants: Volvo steers to the top in e-trucks

Automotive behemoth Volvo continues to dominate Europe’s heavy electric truck segment for the fifth consecutive year, with Volvo Trucks accounting for 47% of it, in addition to topping the sector in North America.

Specifically, Volvo Trucks had a share of 47% in the heavy electric truck segment (16 tons and above) at the end of 2024 in Europe, and more than a 40% share in North America, according to the company’s press release published on March 4.

Electric Volvo trucks’ popularity

In Europe, 1,970 electric Volvo trucks were registered during the last year, with the top five markets including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. Commenting on these results, Roger Alm, President at Volvo Trucks, announced:

“We have a very strong electric truck portfolio for regional, city, and construction transport. Our next electric truck to the market will be running longer distances of up to 600 kilometers on one single charge.”

As it happens, Volvo began the serial production of its electric trucks in 2019, and it now has eight models in its product range, having delivered over 4,800 vehicles to customers across the globe. As Alm added, the fleet had “rolled more than 140 million kilometers in customer operations all over the world.”

That said, he opined that there needed to be more effort in accelerating the shift to zero-emission transport aside from having the electric trucks ready. He pointed out that there should be 40,000 fast chargers along European roads for a potential total of 400,000 electric trucks by 2030. Furthermore, Alm said:

“We also need more efficient economic policies that make electric truck operations profitable for all transport companies. (…) We have a close dialogue with all stakeholders because it’s very clear that much more needs to be done, and with a greater sense of urgency, to secure that the transformation is accelerating.”

Indeed, electric trucks make up only 1.3% of the total truck market in Europe, and a broader adoption depends on factors like the public charging infrastructure, total cost of ownership for transport operators, and supply chain sustainability – to name a few.

Elsewhere, Volvo has recently announced the debut of its fastest-charging, longest-range EV ever, the new ES90, which takes only 10 minutes to charge 300 km (185 miles) and can go as far as 700 km (435 miles) on one charge, addressing the long-running challenges to wider EV adoption.