A worrying statistic reveals that 23 percent of
pedestrian and 58 percent of cyclist deaths in London in the past two years
involved a Heavy Goods Vehicle. That’s extremely high, considering that HGVs make up only 4 percent
of road miles in the UK capital. Volta Trucks and Prodrive want to address that
with a revolutionary design for a truck that they claim will set a new standard
for safety.
The idea is to bring to market a 16-tonne electric
HGV that’s friendly both to the environment and the most vulnerable road users
in crowded urban environments. To do that, Volta Trucks’ Concept HGV positions
its driver down low, centrally and forward of the front axle, therefore
enabling uninterrupted vision at street level through 220 degrees.
Furthermore, dangerous blind spots are eliminated
thanks to extensive cabin glazing and replacing conventional rear-view mirrors
with cameras. Passenger seating is arranged behind the driver, on either side.
To further reduce potential hazards, the truck features bus-style doors on both
sides with a slide/swing action to minimize intrusion into the path of cyclists
or pedestrians.
For now, these images are just CGIs, but Prodrive
says it will help develop the design into a driveable demonstrator by early summer
2020. The British company has assumed overall engineering responsibility for
the vehicle and program delivery, including cab, chassis and electrical
architecture.
Volta Trucks targets a driving range of 161 kilometers, a top speed of 80 km/h, and the possibility to build
the HGV in a range of sizes from 14 to 18 tonnes. Following
the planned reveal of the finished prototype in mid-2020 and driving
demonstrations, Volta aims to build a fleet of prototypes for field trials in
London and Paris with interested parties during 2021. The target manufacturing
volume is 2,000 units per year.
