Remember the Tesla Semi? That futuristic electric truck Elon Musk unveiled in 2017 with a lightshow and techno music that had the Tesla fanboys foaming at the mouth? The one that was going to revolutionize the trucking industry, save the planet, and probably cure cancer too? Well, seven years later, Tesla has managed to build... approximately 140 of them. Not 140,000. Just 140. Meanwhile, in what can only be described as the automotive equivalent of the tortoise beating the hare, Volvo Trucks has quietly sold its 5,000th electric truck. That's right – while Tesla was busy tweeting about Mars colonies and making flamethrowers, the sensible Swedes at Volvo were actually building electric trucks and, more importantly, selling them to customers who need to move things from A to B without setting fire to the atmosphere. Volvo's electric trucks have found homes in over 50 countries, with Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Norway, and Sweden being the biggest markets. In Europe, Volvo has dominated the heavy electric truck segment for five consecutive years, claiming a hefty 47% market share with 1,970 electric trucks registered. Across the pond in North America, Volvo holds over 40% of the electric truck segment – although they've been suspiciously quiet about the actual numbers, probably because Americans still treat electric trucks with the same suspicion as veggie burgers. Not just one model, but a whole fleet of electric workhorses Unlike Tesla, which has spent years perfecting a single model that hardly exists outside of PowerPoint presentations, Volvo offers an entire lineup of eight different electric trucks. There's the FL Electric, FE Electric, FM Electric, FM Low Entry, FMX Electric, FH Electric, FH Aero Electric, and VNR Electric. That's more models than most people can remember, but it means Volvo has an electric solution for virtually every trucking need, from urban deliveries to long-haul transport. The first of these battery-powered behemoths hit the market in 2019, and Volvo hasn't stopped improving them since. The latest generation of the FH Electric long-haul truck is scheduled to arrive later this year with an impressive driving range of up to 373 miles, thanks to a more efficient electric axle. That's enough to cover most regional delivery routes with a single charge – or about 370 miles more than most Tesla Semis manage before they're towed back to the charging station. Volvo Group also owns Mack Trucks, which recently unveiled an electric version of its Pioneer Class 8 tractor. So they're essentially competing with themselves, which is a luxury you can afford when you're actually making and selling trucks instead of just talking about them. The silent revolution: trucks that actually exist "It's rewarding to see that transport companies continue to embrace the benefits of electric trucks in a wide range of transport segments," said Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks, in what must be the understatement of the year. What he didn't say, but was almost certainly thinking, was "It's rewarding to see that we've outsold Tesla by a factor of about 35 to 1 without having to resort to gimmicks like bulletproof windows that immediately shatter when demonstrated." Alm added, "Volvo's battery-electric trucks are available here and now, providing our customers and transport buyers with a more sustainable alternative that makes business sense, and many of our customers are coming back to us to grow their electric fleets." Again, the unspoken part being “unlike some companies that announce electric trucks years before they've figured out how to mass-produce them.” The success of Volvo's electric truck lineup demonstrates an important lesson about the transition to electric vehicles: flashy unveilings and bold promises mean nothing if you can't actually deliver the goods. While Tesla was busy wowing crowds with light shows and acceleration figures that would make sports cars blush, Volvo simply got on with the job of building practical, reliable electric trucks that meet the needs of real-world logistics companies. That's not to say that Tesla won't eventually catch up. The company is reportedly working on a manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada, that should become fully operational next year. If (and that's a rather big if) everything goes according to plan, Tesla might finally start producing the Semi in significant numbers. But by then, Volvo will have sold thousands more electric trucks and refined their offerings even further. The contrast between the two approaches couldn't be clearer. Tesla promises revolution but delivers in dribs and drabs. Volvo promises nothing spectacular but delivers consistently. One generates headlines, the other generates sales. One has a charismatic CEO who dominates social media, the other has trucks that dominate highways. And while Tesla's approach might work for luxury cars where image is almost as important as substance, the trucking industry operates on different principles. Fleet operators care about reliability, total cost of ownership, and uptime – not zero to sixty times or fancy light shows. They need trucks that can do the job day in, day out, without drama. And that's exactly what Volvo is giving them. So here's to Volvo Trucks – proving that in the race to electrify the world's commercial vehicle fleet, slow and steady really does win the race. Or, in this case, slow and steady sells 5,000 trucks while the hare is still trying to figure out how to mass-produce its first one.
