PowerTorque readers will get an exclusive story in the next issue of the magazine, when our European Correspondent, Will Shiers, reports on his test drive of the Renault Trucks Diamond Echo electric demonstration vehicle which displays an innovative design, involving painting a truck with light.
Diamond Echo from Renault Trucks is currently touring Europe for the first time with a unique 100% electric truck and Will managed to catch up with the truck in Glasgow to put it through its paces and report his finding to us here in Australia.
This Renault E-Tech T is called ‘Diamond Echo‘, features a unique electroluminescent design, will travel more than 10,000 kilometres across seven countries, making over 60 stops to meet the transport community and demonstrate the operational reality of electric mobility.
In this video the technicians who created the design explain the complex multilayered process of creating this stunning design. Based on Lumilor technology, the paint, applied by Demon Paint, glows when subjected to an electrical stimulus.
For anyone considering attempting a similar type of paint job needs to listen carefully to the complexity of the the four different layers needed to get this effect on their truck. Not only does the paint layering have to be precise, but there is also a complex wiring system required to get sufficient power to the electroluminescent paint to get it to light up.
Although Renault Trucks is part of the Volvo Group, the brand ploughs an independent furrow in the European truck market, competing directly with Volvo trucks using the same, or very similar, technology in many countries in Europe.
The brand differentiates itself from its Swedish owners by bringing some of that French ‘Panache’ to its truck designs, something which the Diamond Echo seems to have in spades.
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