Volvo Trucks North America has officially begun series production of its all-new VNL Class 8 semi at its also new 2.3 million square-foot New River Valley Assembly Plant in Dublin, Virginia.
"We are excited to be rolling out the all-new Volvo VNL to our valued dealer partners and can't wait for our customers to receive them into their operations to experience the future of trucking today," said Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. "This truck was designed to change everything and represents Volvo Trucks' dedication to innovation by combining state-of-the-art technology with unparalleled fuel efficiency, driver comfort, and safety. The all-new Volvo VNL has already set a new standard in the trucking industry, and it will provide tremendous value to our customers' operations."
This past summer, Clean Trucking, along with over 1,800 customers, dealers, and sales staff took part in a debut event at the Volvo Trucks Customer Center. Also making an appearance was the upcoming VNL Electric Class, which is slated to replace the VNR Electric at a later date.
[Related: Volvo Trucks teases battery-electric VNL]
The combustion-powered VNL boasts four exterior and interior trim levels - Core, Edge, Edge Black, and Ultimate. There's a total of six cab configurations that have been designed to meet a variety of customer operational needs.
This first batch of 400 units will include sleepers and day cab models, equipped with a variety of packages, trim levels, and powertrains. Some of the VNL's unique features include advanced aerodynamics, safety technologies such as collision avoidance systems, and top-of-the-line connectivity solutions. Other notable features are ergonomic seating, advanced climate control, and noise reduction tech. The OEM has declared the VNL as the "most connected truck in the industry" thanks to Volvo Connect, an advanced truck fleet management system that provides drivers access to a long list of digital services, such as monitoring vehicle performance, maintenance, and expanded fleet management.
The VNL is powered by Volvo D13 engine and comes equipped with the I-Shift automated manual transmission. Total output is between 405-500 horsepower and 1,950 lb-ft of torque.