As the UK continues to recover from the pandemic, Freight in the City (FITC) was the first chance for many to see a robust line-up of commercial vehicles in the Great Hall at Alexandra Palace in North London. Dominated by electric powered vehicles, there were old and new manufacturers on show, writes John Kendall.
ELECTRIC was the focus of DAF Trucks display at ‘Aly Paly’, shown with a day cab and Paccar curtainsided body fitted at its Leyland factory. The 19 tonne GVW designation for the 4×2 rigid chassis is derived from the standard 18 tonne LF 4×2, with an additional 1,000kg dispensation from the government to help offset the weight of the battery pack.
Wheelbase options are 5,300mm and 5,800mm. In both cases the model is fitted with a 282kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery pack, giving an effective capacity of 254kWh. “Effectively, on that particular vehicle, we’re working on a consumption rate of roughly 1kWh per kilometre,” explained David Price, municipal and electric vehicle sales manager at DAF Trucks UK. “So we’ve got a theoretical range of 158 miles.”
Two years ago, Volta Trucks showed a drawing of its proposed 16 tonne Volta Zero delivery truck at FITC. This year it displayed a pre-production vehicle. “We launched the truck on 3 September 2020,” said Volta chief communications officer Duncan Forrester. “In that period of time, we’ve been on a tour of Europe, introducing the vehicle to customers in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.”
