Capital Equipment News June 2023

Our trucks are designed to handle high temperature ranges and a variety of operational conditions. With a driveline that has 490kW or power and 2400Nm of torque, it will not struggle on the hills.

Electric trucks can make deliveries at night and in off-peak periods and can access more locations than their diesel counterparts, including the inside of buildings.

was presented to KDG Logistics. The company will use the truck in its operations to move new passenger vehicles between factories/storage facilities and the Durban Port. “Our move to electric trucks was driven by our objective to be more efficient in every aspect of our business,” said Abdool Kamdar, KDG Logistics’ manager of Decarbonization and Net Zero. “We believe what sets us apart from our competitors is the fact that we focus on operational and environmental efficiencies in our business, which includes steps to lessen our impact on the environment and enhance safety for all road users.” Kamdar explained that the company wanted to be one of the first movers on battery electric trucks to gain experience, knowledge, and operational miles in the first generation of these units, to fully understand and take advantage of future efficiencies as the technology develops and expands. The KDG Group has a longstanding relationship with Volvo Trucks and has 175 diesel units in its fleet already. “We have been a 100% Volvo Trucks fleet since 2015, and that is because we believe that the trucks are inherently designed to be the safest possible trucks on the road, but at the same time they are the most operationally efficient from a reliability and fuel consumption point of view,” explained Kamdar. “So, it comes down to understanding what the brand can deliver from past experiences and building on that for a more sustainable future, and to bring our customers more value mile after mile.” b

Volvo’s electric trucks can be charged with an AC charger (for example a charging box) at up to 43 kW and with a DC system (stationary charging station) with a capacity of up to 250 kW.

electric machines can change the way fleets are managed. But, with the right implementation electric trucks have the potential to blossom in South Africa. “Ultimately, we hope to assemble electric trucks locally at our Durban plant. This will be heavily influenced by the regulatory environment. If we can get the necessary support to help drive uptake, then we can have a market big enough to support the economies of scale to justify further investments to assemble locally,” concludes Christensen.

their environmental impact and already have programmes to reduce emissions. “The size of the company is largely irrelevant. Transporters can see that electric drivelines are going to play a bigger role in our near future, and many want to get early exposure on how the technology works in real operations, so they are positioned well for the shift,” says Christensen. “There is also no single silver bullet transport solution that can address all the fleet owner’s requirements. Therefore, Volvo Trucks offers gas-fuelled trucks, electric trucks, and fuel cell trucks under its three-pronged approach. We believe electrification will happen segment by segment and region by region.” Locally, the first electric FM 4X2 Tractor

SA success story Christensen says the company was

surprised by the amount of local interest in its electric trucks, and that the first movers in South Africa are companies that value

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