The Swedish truck maker has taken a big step in getting alternative energy trucks to Africa with the sale of a refuse collection truck in Morocco: the first ever for the continent.
Volvo Trucks has made history this week with the delivery of its first heavy electric truck to Rabat in Morocco, North Africa. The truck was sold to the city’s refuse collection company Arma and is the first ever heavy battery-electric truck from a global manufacturer to be in commercial operation in Africa.
The truck chosen for the task is a Volvo FE Electric, one of six all-electric Volvo truck models, in serial production. Volvo says it has the broadest line-up of electric trucks available for commercial transports. The company’s global target is that in 2030, 50% of all new trucks it sells will be electric.
The series-produced, zero-exhaust emission truck will be used for collecting waste by Arma in Rabat. By replacing the existing Volvo FE diesel truck with a Volvo FE electric on a typical route, approximately 30 tons of CO2 could be saved every year.
Volvo says Morocco has ambitious climate goals, based on large investments in renewable energy. With ample sunshine all-year round the country is also a leader in solar power and home to the world’s biggest concentrated solar power facility, Noor Quarzazate, located 200 km southeast of Marrakech.
The environmental footprint is based on calculation using the Volvo Environmental Footprint Calculator (comparing urban usage over an annual mileage of 50,000 km).