Volvo Trucks and Amply plan to support a California fleet customer in designing and managing its electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure plan to maximize cost savings, charging efficiency, and vehicle uptime. Amply is also supporting the charge management program for Manhattan Beer Distributors, which is deploying its first five Volvo VNR Electric trucks in its New York beverage distribution fleet.
The effort comes out of the Innovation Lab at Volvo Group, located in Silicon Valley, where Volvo Trucks can collaborate with start-ups to combine real-world insights, analyze emerging trends, and validate new products and services aimed at helping customers improve both their economic and environmental sustainability goals, according to Volvo Trucks
“When we commercialized our Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric model, we recognized the critical need to work with an array of partners to build a successful ecosystem for electromobility—considering everything from the point of sale, to building a comprehensive service network, developing a skilled workforce, and ensuring access to a stable and cost-effective power supply,” said Peter Voorhoeve, president, in a prepared statement. “Volvo Trucks is collaborating with companies across the industry to demonstrate a range of strategies to achieve these goals, including supporting emerging solutions providers through our Innovation Lab at Volvo Group.”
Amply Power, an electric vehicle charging and energy management provider that joined the lab in 2019. As a member of the Innovation Lab, Amply has shared its insight into some of the charging infrastructure challenges that could deter fleet operators from investing in a battery-electric fleet. In turn, Volvo Trucks has shared its real-world experience gained from working with multiple customers that have installed charging infrastructure to support the deployment of Volvo VNR Electrics.
Said Fredy Daza, director of the Volvo Group Connected Solutions Innovation Lab, in a statement:
“Having Amply as a member of our ‘Innovation Community’ has helped provide visibility to some of the challenges in deploying and reliably managing charging infrastructure for Class 8 electric vehicles, which is essential to the success of the transport industry's electrification journey.”
Amply CEO and founder Vic Shao, said in a statement, “The Volvo Trucks North America and Amply collaboration offers a simple low-risk solution to deploying and scaling heavy-duty electric fleets. Customers need integrated solutions that offer guaranteed performance and uptime of their EV fleet, while optimizing charging operations for lowest cost energy.”
Source: Volvo Trucks North America
