Spac, a subsidiary of French civil engineer Colas, has tried out Volvo Construction Equipment’s first electric excavator. The ECR25 Electric was used to dig trenches at the Saint-Nom-la Bretèche golf course, just outside Paris.
The 2.5 tonne excavator, which runs on 48V lithium-ion batteries, has zero exhaust emissions and is almost silent during operation. The batteries power the machine for eight hours and can be charged overnight using a household plug socket.
Elodie Guyot, Volvo’s electric compact excavator project manager, said: "It’s exciting for us to see this machine at a client’s construction site. It’s in a very quiet and peaceful area where residents want that quietness and peacefulness to be respected so it’s crucial to have a machine that meets this need."
The ECR25 in recharging mode (Volvo CE/Spac)
Alexandre Birot, Spac’s machine operator, said: "When we talk to the guy in the trench we don’t have to yell, we talk normally and he can hear everything. With a traditional excavator we first have to turn the engine off for him to be able to hear.
"What’s more, when we spend the whole day in the trench, usually he would inhale a lot of fumes but now there’s no exhaust gas for him to inhale."
The Volvo ECR25 Electric will be available in selected markets from mid-2020.
Top image: Spac operator Alexandre Birot puts the Volvo ECR25 Electric through its paces at the Saint-Nom-la Bretèche golf course near Paris, France (Volvo CE/Spac)
