- 2 years ago
MotorTrend Truck and Off-Road Group Senior Content Producer KJ Jones Drives the Volvo VNR Electric big-rig
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MotorTranscript
00:00 This is the Volvo electric big rig.
00:10 Alright.
00:11 Being on.
00:12 Wait a minute, wait a minute brother.
00:15 Nope, nope.
00:16 Wait a minute.
00:17 Alright, we're gonna do it right now.
00:18 Let's do it right now.
00:19 Alright.
00:20 You're gonna drive this beautiful truck and you're gonna impress everybody with your driving
00:24 prowess.
00:25 There you go.
00:26 Yeah.
00:27 Sounds like a plan to me.
00:28 Motor Trend.
00:29 Yeah.
00:30 That's really good.
00:31 We're gonna have a good time together.
00:32 Alright.
00:33 And I seem to recall that in 1996 when we introduced the first Volvo VN.
00:45 VN stands for what?
00:49 Let me finish my story.
00:50 Okay.
00:51 Motor Trend named it the commercial truck of the year.
00:55 About that.
00:56 Yeah, that's cool.
00:57 Alright.
00:58 So, VNR, funky nomenclature.
01:01 V is for Volvo.
01:03 N is for normal duty.
01:05 So highway truck, class 8, carry a heavy payload, that kind of thing.
01:10 As opposed to a heavy duty truck or an off-road truck like a construction vehicle.
01:15 Gotcha.
01:16 And R is for regional.
01:17 R is for regional.
01:18 R, as Brett was saying, the regional haul has a, the VNR has a little bit shorter hood,
01:25 shorter wheelbase, better for tighter turns, city driving, highly maneuverable, and you'll
01:32 see as you get out on the road.
01:34 Okay, and my co-pilot's name is?
01:36 I'm Rob Simpson.
01:37 Okay, Rob.
01:38 KJ, nice to meet you, brother.
01:39 Yes, sir.
01:40 Yes, sir.
01:41 Let's go.
01:42 Alright.
01:43 Alright.
01:44 I'll let you climb in.
01:45 I'll let you film.
01:46 I'll meet you on the other side.
01:47 Got it.
01:48 You want me to hold this?
01:49 Yeah.
01:50 You want to film me climbing in the truck?
01:51 You can do that.
01:52 You can be my photographer.
01:53 You like it vertical or horizontal?
01:54 Vertical.
01:55 Alright.
01:56 Three points, right?
01:57 Three points contact.
01:58 Let's get in.
01:59 Look at you.
02:00 Alright.
02:01 All the way in.
02:02 Alright.
02:03 Do you want me to close the door for you?
02:04 Thank you.
02:05 I'm all about service.
02:06 Thank you very much.
02:07 Alright.
02:08 How about that?
02:09 Alright.
02:10 KJ doesn't know what he's in for.
02:11 Do you think I should scare him a little bit?
02:14 We're going to put him to the test here.
02:18 Don't tell him I said that.
02:19 We're going to really give him a good driving opportunity.
02:23 Go easy on me, Rob.
02:24 Alright.
02:25 So, question number one is, I see you put your seatbelt on.
02:26 Fantastic.
02:27 Thank you.
02:28 That's always step one.
02:29 I hope you'll do the same.
02:30 I will.
02:31 Okay.
02:32 Is the seat in a good position for you?
02:33 Rob, I could probably come up and nudge.
02:34 As in elevate it, raise it?
02:35 No, no, no.
02:36 Just forward.
02:37 There's a metal latch.
02:38 Got it.
02:39 It's just a little metal bar down below.
02:40 That's my nudge.
02:41 Good.
02:42 Okay.
02:43 That's the nudge.
02:44 Alright.
02:45 I'm going to put my seatbelt on.
02:46 Alright.
02:47 I'm going to put my seatbelt on.
02:48 Alright.
02:49 I'm going to put my seatbelt on.
02:50 Alright.
02:51 I'm going to put my seatbelt on.
02:52 Alright.
02:53 I'm going to put my seatbelt on.
02:54 It's kind of hard to do one-handed.
02:55 Let's do this.
02:56 Cooperative.
02:57 Oh, I like this.
02:58 Okay.
02:59 KJ and Rob working together, folks.
03:01 Yes.
03:02 Safety is number one at Volvo.
03:03 Absolutely.
03:04 So, you always put your seatbelt on.
03:05 By the way, these seatbelts are electric green.
03:09 That's unique for the Volvo electric truck.
03:11 Okay.
03:12 So, I'm going to explain a little bit more what you'll be doing, KJ.
03:18 This is my pointer.
03:19 Your pointer?
03:20 This is my pointer.
03:21 Okay.
03:22 So, this is the dash.
03:23 Now, have you driven a Volvo truck before?
03:25 I have not.
03:26 Okay.
03:27 Have you driven a truck before?
03:28 I have.
03:29 Alright.
03:30 That's why you put your seatbelt on right away, isn't it?
03:31 I should have pre-tripped, but I guess you let me.
03:33 Oh, you're that kind of driver.
03:34 I like it.
03:35 Excellent.
03:36 The dash layout is very similar to a diesel, except that the fuel gauge in the upper left
03:45 actually shows state of charge in analog.
03:47 Here you see it in digital on the dash as well.
03:50 You can also toggle through.
03:52 I'll do this a little bit differently for you because you're at that level.
03:57 This is a really important visual for drivers.
04:01 They can see their consumption in terms of kilowatt hours per mile.
04:06 So we're at 2.1.
04:08 Also kind of the estimated capacity on board and the miles to, kind of miles to empty.
04:15 Okay.
04:16 Right, right, right.
04:18 So drivers can see that and determine, okay, how much farther can I go?
04:22 And also, as you learned about the information that fleets can manage remotely, they can
04:28 look at a truck and say, what's the state of charge?
04:31 What's the state of health of the batteries?
04:33 How much farther can this truck go?
04:35 Do we need to adjust the route so we can bring it back to charge it?
04:39 That kind of thing.
04:41 The other key is that larger gauge in the bottom left.
04:44 It's in the 12 o'clock position.
04:46 As you accelerate, that will dip to the right, which means you are consuming energy.
04:52 When you take your foot off the accelerator, it will dip to the left.
04:55 That means you're charging the batteries.
04:57 Regen.
04:58 Yeah.
04:59 Anytime you take your foot off the throttle, it's regenerating the batteries.
05:02 And regen also has a braking capacity.
05:04 It has a wonderful braking effect.
05:06 It'll feel like an engine brake.
05:08 Gotcha.
05:09 So, and we have it in the number three position.
05:11 This is the stock switch that adjusts.
05:14 So it's in number three right now.
05:16 Kind of the most aggressive.
05:17 Yeah.
05:18 So at this point, I'm going to hold the phone.
05:22 Don't show me.
05:23 We want to see you.
05:24 All right.
05:25 Go ahead.
05:26 Foot on the brake.
05:27 Yellow and red tabs in.
05:28 Yellow first.
05:29 Yellow always first.
05:30 Push hard.
05:31 There you go.
05:32 Now you can do the red.
05:33 And that's the, you always release the tractor brake first.
05:42 And people sometimes do that.
05:43 They'll nudge that wiper.
05:44 Just bring it up one more position.
05:47 Now the next thing is the shifter is actually on the dash right here.
05:52 So hit D for drive.
05:54 You heard the engaging gear.
05:57 So now we're going to go ahead and head out.
06:01 Okay.
06:02 So here we go.
06:03 Hang on to your hats, everybody.
06:04 KJ's got his.
06:05 KJ's got his throttle out.
06:06 There you go.
06:07 And you got your, you call it a throttle and it'll like, you know, it'll just go.
06:08 It's still a throttle.
06:15 You don't call it a gas pedal.
06:16 Right.
06:17 Of course not.
06:18 Obviously.
06:19 All right.
06:20 So KJ, as we go out, you know the rule, just kind of, you swing to the outside of a curve
06:26 because trailers always track inward a little bit.
06:29 I'm looking back.
06:30 I was hoping, stop now.
06:31 Stop.
06:32 And I'm waiting for this trucker to by and now you can follow it out on the road.
06:33 Good call.
06:34 Good job.
06:35 So now you can kind of put pedal to the metal and feel the acceleration.
06:46 And this has about 70,000.
06:49 Yes, 78,000.
06:50 78,000.
06:51 Wow.
06:52 We're loaded.
06:53 I've got some containers in the back that are full of sand.
06:54 So if you look back there, it would look like it's about half loaded, but those puppies
06:55 are heavy.
06:56 That's a lot of weight.
06:57 Yeah.
06:58 Now take your foot off the throttle.
06:59 You feel that return of the brake and slow you down.
07:00 That's really impressive.
07:01 How many brakes do you stop?
07:02 Almost.
07:03 It can reduce you down to, it's about a mile per hour and at that point you just tap your
07:04 brakes to stop.
07:05 You're doing a great job on the curb.
07:06 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:07 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:08 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:09 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:10 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:11 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:12 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:13 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
07:37 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:03 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:32 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:39 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:40 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:41 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:42 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:43 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:44 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:45 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:46 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:47 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:48 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:49 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
08:50 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:14 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:21 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:22 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:23 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:24 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:25 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:26 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:27 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:28 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:29 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:30 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:31 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:32 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
09:58 I'm going to try to get a little bit more of a turn.
10:27 where the torque really makes a difference you're going to haul up the hill pretty easily.
10:32 Now you'll use energy, but you'll be able to do it without slowing down too much. Now
10:39 if you're ready we can kind of slowly head back into the parking lot. I'm not ready but
10:46 that's what I have to do. You want to go around one more? Yeah, let's take them for a push.
10:49 Ok, punch it then, nobody's gonna stop you, they're not gonna run and flag you down. I'm
10:56 the track police so if I say it's ok we're gonna go. The track police? Well I run the
11:03 customer center of the track so. So that nanny right there is saying I'm over the line. That's
11:16 right, that's our lane departure warning. Lane departure warning. And again it's just
11:23 a nice audio and visual reminder, again letting the driver keep control. It may be that the
11:29 driver wanted to, to avoid that little duck. In that instance I did, I was just kind of
11:34 seeing. See everything is intentional with you, nothing's an accident. Especially driving
11:41 a truck, we never want to have any accidents. Correct. It really is comfortable and it doesn't
11:49 depart at all from driving a truck. Just watch your mirrors, I mean you might, there's less
11:56 of a gauge to watch here also, you're really just watching your consumption gauge more
12:00 than anything else. There's no oil temperature to watch, none of that kind of stuff. Shocking
12:06 isn't it? Yeah it's pretty wild. For an electric truck, shocking. Feel free to use that. Who
12:12 writes your stuff up? Well I try to stay current. I'm enjoying the time. This has been fun.
12:22 Now the difference here KJ, once we exit the tunnel, you can start your slow down a little
12:39 bit to move into the parking lot. When we head into the parking lot, you're going to
12:47 see on the far wall by the concrete barrier, red, yellow, green cones set side to side.
12:54 Use head straight toward them. And then I'll let you roll us into slot number 5, that's
13:03 the last one on the right. There will be a grade for keeping it between the lines. Remember
13:15 when you took your rotary CDL and you got marks off if the trailer tire wouldn't move?
13:21 That's nerve wracking. This has nerve wracking. There you go. Alright, how'd that feel? It
13:27 was good. And it should return to neutral. It did. We have an auto neutral function,
13:35 so just for as a fail safe. And what's cool is, literally, this vehicle is running right
13:42 now and you don't even have to think. Actually if you turn the fan off. That's just it, you
13:47 heard it, the fan was it. That's amazing. The truck is running. And it is energized
13:51 and powered up. Well, I tell you what, it does the job very efficiently in this closed
13:59 course of course, but very efficiently. 70,000 pounds. Pulled it like nothing, just to put
14:04 it in a layman's term. And it's quiet and it's not putting a drop of pollution in the
14:10 air. So it's really a matter of, you know, for the people that follow me, it's a wait
14:16 and see as far as how all of this goes forward. But right now, all those things I have figured
14:24 out. Very cool. Thanks Rob. Thank you. Appreciate it KJ. Yes sir. Good working with you. Thank
14:30 you. I'm going to leave it rolling. Rob, you're in control. One last look at you. Yeah, everybody
14:36 needs one last look. There we go. That's what we were talking about. 53 feet, 70,000 pounds.
14:42 Cool.
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