Volvo launches its first mid-sized electric excavator in Europe
Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has launched its first mid-size electric excavator, the EC230 Electric, into the European market.
The company says the excavator, which delivers sustainable operation with low noise and zero emissions, is available to select customers in Europe after being first introduced in China in 2021 and Norway in 2022.
The 23-ton EC230 Electric excavator promises the same performance as its conventional diesel counterpart, but with the added benefit of zero emissions, low noise, low vibrations, better controllability and lower total cost of ownership. According to Volvo CE, operators have reported that EC230 has not only been achieving a similar digging force as its diesel equivalent, the Volvo EC200E, but doing so with an even faster cycle time and much less noise.
It said, “Reducing harmful emissions and disruptive noise is not only beneficial for people working on site and for the community in which it is operating, but it could also help meet CO2 reduction targets. In fact, the EC230 Electric is so efficient that – even with the energy needed to produce the batteries – total emissions are still lower than its diesel variant.”
The machine has already been deployed at the Slakthusområdet urban development in Sweden, the country’s largest fossil free worksite, and the Green Construction Site of the Future project in Denmark, where it was put to work on construction of an office building and urban public spaces.
Richard Sjöblom, Excavator Operator for Skanska on the Slakthusområdet project, has been particularly positive about the ease of charging and the performance of the machine after testing it across different applications. He says: “If I had the choice of an electric or diesel machine in this size class, I would choose electric as there are so many advantages over a diesel machine. When the machine was delivered to site there were many sceptics who thought the machine didn’t have the capacity to last the whole day, but they have all been proved wrong!”
The machine is powered by lithium-ion batteries and has been designed to carry out a full eight hours of work, with a speedy high-power lunch-hour charge. As a general purpose machine, it is designed for a variety of tasks including extraction, earthmoving and grading for site preparation in the building segment, as well as waste and scrap handling in the recycling and waste segment.
Thomas Bitter, Head of Technology, Volvo CE, says: “Partnering with our customers is a vital part of our innovation journey and a close cooperation with them is how we can gain valuable feedback to continually improve our offering and build sustainable solutions. The EC230 Electric has proven its sustainable power and is the perfect fit for modern construction sites – fulfilling demanding tasks while being considerate of its surrounding environment.”
