Taking Volvo's new 80,000-pound semi truck for a spin
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Driving a semi truck is challenging, I learned. Photo: Courtesy of Lawren Markle for Axios
If someone hands you the keys to a sports car and says, "Take it for a spin," you'd probably say yes.
- That happened to me last week — only it was an 80,000-pound semi truck.
Volvo invited me to drive its new VNL model at Michelin Laurens Proving Grounds near Greenville, South Carolina. (It had to be on private roads since I don't have a commercial driver's license.)
- And there was a twist: I could also spend the night in the sleeper cab. (More on that experience here.)
- My response? Hell, yes.
Why it matters: The VNL truck line is Volvo's first all-new heavy truck platform since 1993, and was designed specifically for the North American market with a focus on fuel efficiency, safety and driver comfort.
- The company invested $2 billion in development, and another $400 million to retool its Virginia factory.
During a walkaround of the truck, Volvo engineers explained how its wedge-shaped design and other aerodynamic tricks improved the VNL's fuel economy by 10% over Volvo's previous model.
- While most trucks get around 7 or 8 miles per gallon, the VNL can get up to 11 mpg — tens of thousands of dollars in savings that go right into a truck owner's pocket.
- Future versions might have an electric or hydrogen powertrain, they said.
An autonomous VNL is being tested with partners on limited routes in Texas, but Volvo officials believe widespread deployment of self-driving trucks is still years away.
- That's why the new VNL was designed for a human driver.
- There's a long list of assisted-driving features — adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection.
- Volvo is also the first to make side-impact air bags standard in a heavy truck.
💠Thought bubble: The experience gave me a profound appreciation for the challenges truck drivers face every day.
- It's a far more taxing job than I realized. Just climbing in and out of the cab is a challenge, requiring deft coordination of all my limbs.
- It's mentally challenging too: I wasn't just driving a giant tractor rig. I also had to keep an eye on that 50-foot-long trailer behind me, using exterior camera monitors.
Plus, people are jerks. Cars cut in front of semi trucks all the time (myself included, I confess), which reduces their stopping distance and increases the risk of a crash.
- In one demo, a car cut in front of me, as might happen as traffic starts to back up on a busy highway.
- With adaptive cruise control engaged, the truck stopped by itself and then inched forward automatically, as if we were in stop-and-go traffic.
Driving impressions: As someone who evaluates cars regularly for a living, I've come to appreciate electric vehicles' instant torque and tight handling around curves.
- It's a totally different feeling when you're sitting up high in the cab of a diesel-powered semi truck hauling 70,000 pounds.
- The truck shuddered and rumbled as I pressed the accelerator, and the cab rocked a bit from side to side.
- As I picked up speed, I could feel the automated manual transmission as it shifted through each of the 13 gears.
- It took a while to get up to 50 mph, and that's as fast as I wanted to go.
The bottom line: The trucking industry is in the midst of a prolonged downturn after a spike in demand during COVID.
- When the recovery comes, shipping companies will be looking to replace their aging truck fleets.
- Volvo hopes the driver-friendly features in the VNL will enable it to take market share from rivals like Freightliner, Kenworth and Peterbilt.
