Volvo Trucks were named recently as the ‘Large Goods Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year’, at GreenFleet’ magazine’s awards evening held at Twickenham Rugby Stadium, near London, to recognise pioneers in environmental transport and green fleet management.

The award, which was won against stiff opposition, was handed to Volvo Trucks’ Press Officer Nigel Hanwell by impressionist and ‘green’ activist, Alistair McGowan in recognition of Volvo Trucks’ development of environmental Hybrid solutions for both truck and bus fleet operators.
‘GreenFleet’s award ceremony coincided with the launch this summer of series production of the Volvo FE Hybrid truck in 13 markets throughout the EU but, in addition, ‘GreenFleet’ commented, “Not only has Volvo’s Hybrid reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 30%, but it has made a potentially noisy urban operation much quieter – an ideal solution for distribution, passenger transport and waste disposal operations in dense, urban environments.”

Volvo’s Hybrid vehicles are parallel hybrids, which means that energy from the diesel engine and 120 kilowatt electric motor can be utilised either together or independently of one another. The system switches automatically between the two power sources. When the hybrid is driven in first gear, the vehicle is powered solely by its electric motor, giving the driver alert throttle response and thus excellent driveability. Then, when the hybrid mode kicks in, the diesel engine and the electric motor will work in parallel to optimise fuel savings.

What is more, Volvo’s hybrid technology is designed to recover as much as energy as possible during braking and this is stored in the very latest type of lithium ion batteries. No extra recharging from external sources is required.

“We are particularly proud of our hybrid vehicles as they whisper their way around the streets, which improves the environment for the residents and, of course, for the people who operate the vehicle every day. During acceleration, the noise level is half that of a conventional diesel truck,” said Göran Nyberg, Volvo Group UK’s managing director.