The Australian government has launched a fleet of 43 Volvo electric trucks on Sydney roads this week as part of its Driving the Nation program.
The high-tech trucks are the first of 60 purchased by Team Global Express as part of its AU$44.3 million Depot of the Future project, including 36 Volvo FL Electric trucks and 24 Daimler Fuso eCanters.
The Government has contributed $20.1 million through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, to get the project on the road.
Transport accounts for one-fifth of Australia’s emissions, and trucks and buses are responsible for a quarter of these transport emissions.
As more people are choosing to buy their groceries and other supplies online, driving strong growth in parcel delivery, the switch to electric trucks will help in decarbonising the transport sector.
“We already have thousands of electric buses and electric cars on the road. This Australian-first project will help modernise our truck fleet, cut down on emissions, save fuel costs and reduce air pollution,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“This also delivers on our election commitment through the Driving the Nation Fund into cutting transport emissions and rolling out charging infrastructure across Australia,” he said.
“We pride ourselves on working with companies like Team Global Express and Volvo to seize the opportunities that come with embracing electric heavy vehicles.”
The project is replacing a third of Team Global Express’s fleet in Western Sydney with electric vehicles – which are cleaner and cheaper to run – and will reduce air pollution and noise.
Team Global Express has also upgraded its Bungarribee depot to incorporate advanced EV charging infrastructure powered by a 1MW battery storage system that uses 400kW of energy from onsite solar panels.
The lessons learnt from this project will be shared across the trucking industry to help build up capability and scale our electric heavy vehicle fleet.
The $20.1 million ARENA grant is part of the government’s Driving the Nation fund, through which it has invested $130 million in EV fleets, designed to invest in cheaper and cleaner transport, which is also helping build a nationwide EV fast-charging network to link Australia’s cities and regions.
