One of the questions PowerTorque is getting asked regularly this year is, what is it like to drive an electric truck? The answers are many and varied but this time around the truck on test is the Scania P25, a 4×2 truck with a 16T GVM.
Both Swedish truck makers are bringing their smallest trucks in at the start of the electrification process as this is the sector of the market where the business case, and practicality of introduction, will make the strongest argument for the first move to an electric truck.
It is difficult to get a real impression of how the truck will handle, especially when the truck tested is a cab chassis, which means that it’s light on the rear end but that’s perfectly understandable. On a couple of occasions, the P25 had to pull up quite sharply when the lights changed quickly and the truck pulled up really cleanly, even with a wet road.
Trying to find the most economical driving style it was possible to accelerate and move up to travelling speed quite quickly, then when it was necessary to slow down, just take the foot off and get some regenerative braking out of the electric motor, to quickly wash that speed off.
The engine brake has got five positions. On this test, with little weight onboard, position five is way too harsh. even four is still too harsh. Position one works okay, but position two is probably getting a bit more regenerative braking. It seems likely, with a load on, three or four would be prime candidates to get the best bang for your buck in conserving battery life. It is difficult to judge whether the retardation will bring itself in smoother in a real world, loaded situation.
This relatively low cab is a good design with a nice layout, well set up to run around in the city. It is so quiet that it needs some sort of warning sound for pedestrians in crowded urban situations. At pedestrian crossings, and traffic lights when setting off, this driver was just a bit nervous that people wouldn’t hear the truck coming.
Apart from the electric component, this truck is, basically, the same as any other Scania of this generation and it is just a comfortable drive.
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