News

Electric Volvos arrive in France

Mid December saw the first delivery of a Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) machine and the first all-electric Volvo FE truck in France. The recipient of the new products – a Volvo ECR25 Electric compact excavator and an electric Volvo FE truck, with electrically powered crane – was French contractor and long-term Volvo customer Eiffage. The machines support Eiffage’s low carbon strategy and are to work on the ambitious Grand Paris Express transport project in the French capital. This is a rapid transit initiative being built in the French capital that will add 200km of new track and 68 new stations, ultimately serving two million passengers a day. 

The handover of Volvo Trucks and Volvo Construction Equipment’s first all-electric products was marked with a small ceremony in Paris. It was attended by Benoit de Ruffray, Eiffage Group CEO, and representative of Volvo Truck and Volvo CE’s France-based teams. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt, Volvo CE President Melker Jernberg and Volvo Trucks President Roger Alm participated digitally. “By 2030, we want over a third of the machines the Volvo Group sells to be electric. We can’t do this alone, we want to do this together with our customers, partners like Eiffage and the wider society,” said Volvo Group CEO, Martin Lundstedt. “Today is an exciting landmark on this journey to shape the future of transport and infrastructure.”

“Today’s deliveries of this electric truck and construction machine is the start of a revolution in transport and infrastructure solutions,” agreed Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE. “Make no mistake, electric machines are not going to remain a niche product area. Over the course of the next years and decades they will become the dominant source of low-or-no emission power. When coupled with clean energy, their potential to support climate change goals, improve air quality and help build the world we all want to live in cannot be underestimated. I’m very pleased that we are starting this journey with friends such as Eiffage.” 

This first delivery in France represents, for both Volvo CE and Volvo Trucks, an important and real step on the way to zero emissions. Thanks to their low noise and vibration levels, and their absence of exhaust gases, electric trucks and machines are well suited to meeting tough environmental regulation in urban areas, confined spaces, or specific works. They offer new opportunities for urbanization as well as road infrastructures.

The Volvo ECR25 Electric compact excavator, will be used by Eiffage in support of demolition and dismantling activities, again with zero CO2 emissions and far lower noise and vibration levels than traditional diesel engine machines. The 2.5-ton machine has the same performance as its diesel counterpart, and its battery pack offers four hours work time, depending on application. The Volvo ECR25 Electric was developed and built at Volvo CE’s Belley factory in France. The Volvo FE Electric 6X2 truck was built at the Volvo plant of Blainville sur Orne in France. It will be used to deliver and collect tools and spare parts for demolition works of Part 1 – line 16 and Part T2B of line 15 of the Grand Paris Express project. It will do around 150km per day with zero exhaust emissions.

Got a news story? Email news@earthmoversmagazine.co.uk.