00:01They're almost ready to roll out this weekend on the Wildwoods Boardwalk for their 78th summer season.
00:08Watch the tram car, please.
00:09But this year, the beloved sightseer tram cars are getting a major modern update.
00:15It is really a game changer for the tram cars and for the future of the tram cars.
00:20Three new fully electric Volvo EX40s are joining the fleet to help take some of the load off these old
00:27battery-powered engines,
00:28some dating back many decades.
00:31They're getting tired.
00:32They've become harder and more expensive to maintain.
00:35The way we're set up will be the three Volvos full-time out there and five trams.
00:42This is something that is aimed at preserving the tram car experience on the Wildwoods Boardwalk
00:47and also modernizing it a little bit so that it really lasts for future generations.
00:51Watch the tram car, please.
00:53Yes, that unmistakable sound of summer will blare from the EVs.
00:58Their max speed, eight miles an hour.
01:01Volvo is providing them free of charge, a partnership that came as a surprise to the self-sustaining organization behind
01:08the tram cars,
01:09which receives no government funding.
01:12Although based in Sweden, Volvo's American headquarters is in New Jersey.
01:16An executive at Volvo had a family history with the Wildwoods, was aware of our effort to preserve and modernize
01:23the tram cars.
01:24They think the Volvos will be able to go a couple days before they have to be charged.
01:30These batteries that the old engines use last only half a day.
01:35They also weigh more than 2,000 pounds each and have to be lifted out to get plugged in.
01:43If one of them goes bad, they're thousands of dollars to replace a battery.
01:47The Volvos are set to arrive Saturday, two weeks before Memorial Day weekend.
01:52Ads for the automaker are on the trailers they'll tow.
01:56Too good of an opportunity for us to turn down.
01:58A pivotal shift towards the future for these vintage Jersey Shore icons.
02:03Ted Greenberg, NBC10 News.
