Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) has started production of the all-new VNL at its New River Valley Assembly Plant in Dublin, Virginia, the company announced Thursday.
Among the first batch of units to roll off the line will be 400 trucks destined to its dealer network for customer demos. Magnus Koeck, VTNA vice president of strategy, branding and marketing, told CCJ that, even as the end of the calendar year approaches, the company still has "a few" slots open for 2024 builds.
[RELATED: Quick spin: 'Beginning of a new era' with the revamped VNL]
The New River facility is Volvo's largest in the world and the official debut of the revamped VNL – a truck Volvo claims is all is 90% new and 10% more efficient – christens a $400 million investment in the company's new cab plant.
More than 1,800 customers, dealers and sales personnel have participated in pre-launch events throughout the summer at Volvo Trucks' Customer Center in anticipation of the commercial debut of the next generation on-highway flagship tractor.
The all-new Volvo VNL is packaged into four exterior and interior trim levels — Core, Edge, Edge Black and Ultimate — and six cab configurations: VNL 300 Day Cab; VNL 440 42-inch Mid-Roof Sleeper; VNL 640 62-inch Mid-Roof Sleeper; VNL 660 62-inch Full-Height Sleeper; VNL 840 74-inch Mid-Roof Sleeper; and VNL 860 74-inch Full-Height Sleeper.
For the 2024 redesign of its VNL – a six year developmental process – Volvo leaned into its SuperTruck 2, which Volvo Trucks North America President Peter Voorhoeve calls "the most aerodynamic and efficient truck" Volvo has ever built. Too, the new VNL will be the launchpad for all future powertrain innovations, including battery electric, hydrogen, autonomous and a host of other solutions.
Available in four horsepower ratings ranging from 405-500 hp, and three torque ratings from 1,750-1,950 lb-ft, the D13 engine's smaller needle control valves in the fuel injectors provide improved fuel flow into the D13 engine's combustion chamber. The control valve size reduction provides more precise and rapid control over the fuel flow rate out of the injector tip, leading to improved fuel atomization, better combustion efficiency and enhanced engine performance. The latest iteration of the I-Shift transmission features up to 30% faster shifting speeds compared to its predecessor.
