Volvo trucks has started delivering trucks with fossil-free steel components. — Photography Courtesy of Volvo Trucks/AFP Relaxnews
Volvo Trucks is preparing to deliver its first electric trucks made partly of fossil-free steel. This is a world first, made possible thanks to the firm's collaboration with its Swedish compatriot SSAB. What's more, these vehicles are 90% recyclable.
For vehicle brands, moving towards carbon neutrality means adopting alternatives to the traditional combustion engine, but also reducing or even completely eliminating the fossil fuels used in the production of materials used to build their vehicles. The idea is to replace them with decarbonized and recycled alternatives.
Volvo's first electric trucks featuring fossil-free steel are currently being delivered, the automaker reports. They are 44-tonne electric trucks. The fossil-free steel used in these trucks comes from the Swedish steelmaker SSAB, which uses a unique new technology that harnesses decarbonized electricity and hydrogen. For now, this steel is used primarily to make the frame rails of the electric truck, the structure on which all other major components of the vehicle are mounted. When this steel is produced on a larger scale, it will be used to produce other truck parts. Note that Amazon will be one of the first customers to benefit from these new trucks.
Currently, about 30% of the materials in a new Volvo truck come from recycled materials. But at the end of its life, up to 90% of a truck leaving the factory today can be recycled. Volvo Trucks is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 at the latest, throughout its value chain.
Note that Volvo is already working with SSAB to integrate fossil-free steel into the production of its upcoming cars. In the same vein, the German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has announced that it has taken a stake in the Swedish startup H2 Green Steel (H2GS), also in the aim of integrating steel produced without CO2 emissions into the production of its next models, starting in 2025. – AFP Relaxnews
