Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) has recently announced that the company would commence the launch of an electric range of compact excavators and compact wheel loaders by mid-2020. Apparently, this move has been termed as an innovating commitment to the future technology by the company.
Volvo CE said in a statement that it would stop new developments based on diesel engine of its L20-L28 range of wheel loaders and EC15-EC27 range of compact excavators by the set date and would move ahead with its new range. The company’s new electric machines would first be unveiled in April, at the Bauma exhibition, which will be followed by an introduction, which will be staged market-by-market, as well as ramp up in 2020.
The company stated that it is the first construction equipment developer that has committed to an electric future with this move, for its compact machine range. This is followed by an immense favorable reaction from the market after Volvo CE introduced numerous concept machines in recent years, along with working closely with customers. This move is further aligned with the strategic focus of Volvo Group on electromobility in every business area.
Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE, said that the technology currently being developed is sufficiently robust, and together with a heightened regulatory environment and changes in customer behavior, this is the right time for committing to electromobility in the company’s compact range of equipment in the future.
Last year, Volvo CE purportedly carried out a prototype electric machinery trial during the Electric Site project at the Vikan Kross quarry of Skanska, close to Gothenburg, Sweden. This included usage of very large electric-hybrid wheel loader prototypes and cable-connected, dual-powered excavators. The trial’s initial 10 weeks saw a 40% drop in operator cost, a 70% drop in energy cost and a 98% drop in carbon emissions.
