Volvo Trucks is to deliver a total of 100 innovative Volvo FE hybrid trucks to 13 selected European countries by 2013. On 28 September, Volvo chose Vienna’s historical Lusthaus pavillion as the venue for the first delivery of its hybrid truck in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) to SPAR Austria.
With 74,000 employees, SPAR Austria is the largest Austrian private-sector employer.
The company’s CEO, Dr. Gerhard Drexel, was on hand at the presentation ceremony on 28 September to accept the keys of the fully hybrid truck from Herbert Spiegel, Managing Director of Volvo Austria GmbH, and Tommy Kohle, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Volvo Trucks.
Appropriately, those attending the event travelled by public transport to reduce the climate impact and were collected from the U2 Stadium underground station by a Volvo hybrid bus, which took them to their final destination at the Prater fairground. Once they had arrived, the SPAR Climate Parade began with a show of e-bikes, e-cars and the Volvo FE hybrid.
Gerhard Drexel was very impressed with the innovative technology from Volvo Trucks: “I think it’s sensational that the fully-hybrid truck, unlike e-bikes and e-cars, does not need to be charged at the mains, but that the battery recharges itself through the vehicle’s own braking force. That’s why the truck will mainly be used on the streets of Vienna, where constant starting and stopping is unavoidable.”
The low-emission, low-noise Volvo truck will mainly be used by SPAR in Vienna’s city traffic in order to promote effective climate protection and reduce noise pollution for the Viennese population. The hybrid truck reduces the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions with up to 20%. Depending on usage, it can travel shorter distances silently and with zero emissions at speeds of up to 50 km/h on its electric motor alone.
“As well as its core values of quality and safety, Volvo’s main concern are care for the environment. This is included in our production of trucks,” explained Herbert Spiegel, Managing Director of Volvo Austria, adding that, “The Volvo FE hybrid represents a significant milestone for Austria. Volvo Trucks is taking the lead in innovation when it comes to the manufacture and provision of efficient transport solutions. Volvo has already attracted a great deal of interest with this production-ready technology and we look forward to achieving further milestones in the area of sustainable logistics in future.”
29 September, 2011
For further information, please contact:
Jenny Björsne, Corporate Communications, phone +46 31 664523, e-mail jenny.bjorsne@volvo.com
Mag. Fredrik Klevenfeldt,
Tel. +43 57500 10300
E-Mail: fredrik.klevenfeldt@volvo.com
www.volvotrucks.at
