Volvo Trucks North America is starting an extended project called ‘LIGHTS’ to deliver freight to and within the Los Angeles area by its fully ‘Class 8’ VNR Electric trucks, the heaviest class in its line-up.

Starting with five of these, making round trips from 120 to 280 km, the program will build up to a fleet of 23 heavy tractors, operated by NFI Transportation and Dependable Supply Chain Services. But the ‘LIGHTS’ project (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) goes further than this.

It includes as well 29 additional light electric vehicles (from forklifts to light trucks), 58 public and private EV chargers, two electric truck service centers, and training colleges to be set up for maintenance. Volvo is working for this with 12 other companies and organizations. All this gets the blessing from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and a $44,8 million grant.

The VNR is Volvo’s semi-truck for ‘regional’ transport as the ‘R’ in the name indicates. Its typical use is for the port-to-warehouse runs, for instance. Although considered the highest truck class in the US (+ 33 001 pounds or 14 969 kg), the VNR is ‘designed for the maneuverability and visibility needed to navigate crowded urban cities’.

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