This winter, the Norwegian road authority has begun using an electric truck for one of the heaviest tasks that can be done. In a month long pilot it runs as a plow truck. The study has just successfully completed its first week.
The truck used is a Volvo FH rebuilt by Swiss Designwerk Technologies, with a battery capacity of 1000 kWh. Through the tests, the road authority will now get an idea of how it works as a plow truck. They are looking into charging time, energy and range under demanding conditions with wind, snow and heavy load on the equipment. This is to provide knowledge about operational plans, charging logistics and preparedness.
The electric plow truck is operating in the mountain area along the E6 between Oslo and Trondheim. The first week shows that consumption is significantly lower than expected. After a full day of operation of 9 hours with a mixture of light and heavy snow, gusts of wind and minus 5 degrees, the battery capacity went from 90 to 28 percent. This corresponds to a consumption of 182 kWh/100 km.
Norway has already implemented electric plow trucks with lower capacity, for some pedestrian and cycle paths and smaller public roads.
