EV Magazine March 2023 | Page 51

As an important topic in 2023 , the commercial vehicle discussion closed the show , thanks to Martin Kearns , Head of E-mobility at Volvo Trucks .

Firstly , he addressed the need for decarbonisation in transport and the technologies that will allow companies to leverage long and short-haul vehicle capabilities — electric and hydrogen fuel-cell .

“ There seems to be a sharp line between those two technologies . It ’ s also a lot about availability , infrastructure , and , also important , the price of green electricity and green hydrogen ,” says Kearns .

Really , what Kearns was able to do is share an overview of the combined efforts between electrified solutions , hydrogen-powered vehicles , as well as the potential biofuels to enable a sustainable future for all vehicles , let alone the commercial sector .

Kearns says : “ The energy efficiency of these vehicles is developing at such a rate now . When we launched our first generation , fully electric buses in 2015 , the batteries had a capacity of around 50kWh . Second generation , 66kWh . And now , with the third generation batteries , we ’ re somewhere around 90kWh .”

EVMAGAZINE . COM [ March 2023 ] 51