High above Yarra Valley is a freshly completed ‘eco’ home awaiting delivery to a sustainable housing community – a highly efficient house that’s going to become a part of Australia’s first carbon-zero housing project called The Cape. But there’s the small matter of 180km separating them.
Of course, the MillBuilt two-bedder could be simply slapped on the back of any heavy truck and trailer combo and ferried there under good-old diesel power, but that would be like ordering the chef’s special veggie pizza and adding pepperoni – delicious but perhaps a bit hypocritical.
Instead, ROADBOSS follows the journey of a nine-star-energy-rated house from completion in the Toolangi forest to its final resting place on the Bass Coast, moved using nothing but electrons.
Building relocations rarely go without some kind of improvisation on the fly and the team at transporter CD Wilson & Son bring their experience and expertise to move the 20-tonne dwelling through plenty of unexpected challenges, but the biggest one is perhaps the most predictable.
You guessed it – the battery. Officially, the Volvo FM Electric has a range of 300km and the good people at Volvo assure the journey is possible on a single charge of the massive 540kWh battery. But not only does the completed house weigh approximately 20 tonnes, it also has the same frontal area as Uluru.
Despite the challenges, this story has a happy ending. The precious cargo completes its journey with just one small, unplanned pit stop, and the project becomes a world first with the ‘eco’ home delivered to the ‘eco’ community thanks to a zero-emissions truck.
Don’t expect to see many pure electric heavy duty trucks on Australian long-haul routes any time soon, but this enviro experiment at least proves that, with the right infrastructure, the applications of electrified vehicles are not just limited to light duties in big cities.
Read the full story in the Autumn issue of ROADBOSS Magazine, out April. Check out the website for details on how to subscribe.
