Australia Receives Volvo’s Zero Emissions Construction Range
Volvo moves to capture the electric heavy machine market in Australia through their latest electric powered excavators and wheel loaders
It was only 4 years ago when Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) unveiled its first electric powered equipment. Since 2020, the market leader of heavy machines has managed to penetrate dozens of markets around the world and the latest market that Volvo CE has moved into is the Australian market through domestic distributors.
Although the machines fall into the mini excavator category as the ECR18 and ECR25 electric compact excavators weigh below 5T (based on the excavator for hire statistics from local construction rental companies, the most popular category of excavator that are given on rental are excavators that fall into the 13.5T or 15T category).
These new electric machines are already available in the current Australian construction equipment rental markets and based on the market response which has been positive to a certain degree, the truth is that the market which includes construction equipment rental companies that provide machines such as excavators for hire were expecting bigger operational weight specifically the 13.5T and 15T excavator.
The reason behind this according to John Whitman the owner of a Melbourne based heavy machine rental company that mainly focuses on the excavator for hire segment, these classes which in many ways are deemed as standing in between standard (20 T and above) and mini (under 10T) renders this category of machines the perfect solutions for construction in urban areas.
However, electric powered 13.5T and 15T excavators are mainly still powered by fossil fuel even though some are categorised as hybrid excavators. Electric powered 13.5 and 15T excavators have yet to hit markets effectively as the options are limited added Whitman.
The current shift in demand from conventional fossil fuel powered machines to battery powered machines according to contractors are attributed to a number of reasons such as zero engine emissions, low noise and lower maintenance and ownership costs.
Most construction equipment that use conventional combustion engines, especially excavators are not preferred in residential or urban areas due to the emissions, vibrations and noise produced by these machines.
Apart from that, market preference has shifted towards compact electric powered excavators within the 13.5 and 15 tonne excavator rental bracket powered by batteries based on the current demand according to heavy machine rental companies due to the ability of these excavators in confined spaces and in noise and pollution sensitive areas especially in residential zones.
According to a spokesperson from Volvo CE who wished to remain anonymous indicated that these excavators powered by batteries offer the same amount of power and performance compared to their diesel counterparts.
Nevertheless, in terms of benefits, battery powered machines come out on top as they offer low noise, low vibrations and zero emissions, with the only downside being the charging time. According to the spokesperson the machines total ‘run time’ spans between four to eight hours, depending on the type of task the machine is subjected stated Hayden Grant who is the Volvo Construction Equipment National Product Manager, Hayden Grant.
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