"I'm surprised that it works so well," says Janne Söderström, test driver.
After being on the test track for a few months, the solar-powered and rechargeable hybrid truck is now in traffic on the roads. With Avesta as its home base, the car runs daily transport tours in central Sweden.
Want to replace diesel with solar energy
Heavy goods vehicles account for about a third of road traffic's carbon dioxide emissions and almost all heavy trucks run on diesel. Since fuel costs are a heavy item for hauliers, any reduction is an advantage both environmentally and economically. The research project is now trying to find out if it is possible to power trucks with solar energy instead of diesel.
Avestaåkeriet says that so far they have indications that electric power from the solar cells and electric charging have reduced diesel fuel consumption by about 20 percent. They now hope to be able to continue the test for the next two winters to see how it goes in cold and less sunny periods.
One of many possible fuels
So are hybrid trucks with solar cells the future?
"I believe that in the long term it will be a broad pallet with different fuels, it can be hybrid technology or fully electric, liquid biogas or hydrogen in the long term," says Lars Evertsson, CEO of Ernst's haulage company.
Join the solar-powered 25 ton truck and hear more about how it works in the clip!