She drives the world’s largest truck – in Arctic weather

Scania has delivered a battery-electric, three-axle truck unit to Wibax. With a power of up to 300 killowatts and torque close to 2,200 newton-meter, the truck will be towing tanker trailers with a load of up to 44 tonnes, which yields a total weight of 64 tonnes. The truck will enter regular service this winter. It means that the vehicle is the first 64-tonne truck to enter active service with a customer. The truck will primarily be servicing the Piteå-Skellefteå route.

”We have many fixed routs with relative short transport from port depots to industries. The longest routes are just over 100 km one way, and the trucks are always fully loaded. We can charge the battery in connection with loading and unloading”, explains Magnus Sundström, CEO of Wibax Logistics.

Helena Hedman, truck driver with Wibax Logistics, has been testing the new vehicle.

”We have been testing it with an empty trailer in 29 degrees below zero. Everything went well, but we did notice a slight increase in electricity consumption compared with driving in milder temperatures. But it will be used for fixed routes with chargers at both destinations, where it will be stationary for approximately an hour, for loading an unloading. So with a fast charger, that will be no problem in this particular case”, she explains.

Magnus Sundström also expects winter conditions to be manageable.

”The cold will certainly have some kind of impact, we will know more once we are fully operational. However, we have been test driving in very low temperatures, and the truck passed the test. And the amount of energy needed to heat the driver’s compartment will be roughly the same as for a normal car. This means a smaller impact relative to battery size”, says Sundström.

Read the full article in Ny Teknik (Swedish) >>