Volvo Trucks has won the International Truck of the Year 2024 award, winning it for its Volvo FH Electric—the first time an electric has ever won.
The FH Electric heavy truck was praised by the jury, which admired its performance, seamless acceleration, quietness, and vibration-free behavior. It can operate at a total of 44 tonnes or ~97,000 lbs.
The International Truck of the Year organization was launched in 1977 and is made up of 24 commercial vehicle journalists from major trucking magazines throughout Europe. The annual award is given to the truck introduced to the market in the previous 12 months that has made the most significant contribution to road transport efficiency. Several key criteria are evaluated, including technological innovation, comfort, safety, driveability, energy efficiency, environmental 'footprint', and total cost of ownership (TCO).
The award was presented at the Solutrans Transport Exhibition—a biennial trade fair for haulage and urban transport professionals—in Lyon, France.
“With the introduction of the FH Electric, Volvo Trucks has delivered a state-of-the-art battery electric vehicle range suitable for a wide array of transport operations. It's proof that the energy transition is gaining strength even in today's challenging business environment,” stated Gianenrico Griffini, Chairman of International Truck of the Year.
Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks, accepted the prestigious award. “I am so very proud of this recognition that our Volvo FH Electric has won this highly respected award. For the first time in history, the transport industry has chosen an electric vehicle as Truck of the Year.”
He continued: “The Volvo FH Electric represents a new era in trucking, and winning this award clearly shows that the shift to zero-emission transport is happening here and now."
This is the fourth time that Volvo’s iconic FH model—though only the first time for the FH Electric—has been named Truck of the Year in various competitions. The Volvo FH is one of the industry's most successful models ever, with nearly 1.4 million trucks sold all over the world.
Volvo Trucks was the first global manufacturer to start series production of electric trucks in 2019, and today it has a broad electric line-up with a total of six electric trucks designed to handle a wide variety of transport assignments.