Magnetics Business & Technology - January/February 2022 - 16

FEATURE ARTICLE
Electromobility Heads Off-Road with Volvo Construction Equipment
Induction motor powers the driveline and permanent-magnet motor powers the hydraulics in Volvo CE electric wheel loader, shown at work in
California
Electric car sales are increasing every year, more and more
cities are using electric buses, and the first generation of electric
trucks is hitting the highways - when it comes to electromobility,
a lot of the early progress has been seen on the roads. But quietly
in the background, electric vehicles also have been heading
off the road and onto construction jobsites.
Employing both permanent-magnet motors and induction motors,
two mobile machines recently developed by Volvo Construction
Equipment are good examples. Performance results from a pilot
project in California were presented September 21 at a special
online event, " AddSilence. "
The construction industry has a key role to play in decarbonization
efforts. The buildings and construction sectors combine to
account for 38% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, according
to a United Nations report. " After on-road trucks, off-road
equipment is the second-largest source of nitrogen oxide pollution
in our region, " says Ben Benoit, chair of the South Coast Air
Quality Management District in California, which is responsible
for improving air quality in an area around Los Angeles that's
home to 17 million people. " Our next big focus is construction
equipment, and we're really looking forward to seeing some of
the successes in electromobility. "
Heavy equipment like excavators and wheel loaders are just now
becoming available in electric options, and as with the transportation
sector, EVs are ushering in a new
era. " Electric machines are going to build the
roads, bridges and utility lines of tomorrow,
and they're going to do it without producing
greenhouse gas emissions, " says Dr. Ray
Gallant, head of product management and
productivity for Volvo Construction Equipment
(Volvo CE). " There are already early
adopters successfully using electric construction
equipment, and they're finding
that they can lower their carbon footprint
while keeping their performance high. "
Dr. Ray Gallant,
Volvo Construction
Equipment
16 Magnetics Business & Technology * January/February 2022
The Next Frontier
Equipment manufacturers have been addressing sustainability
for years by putting lower-emission engines in their machines,
adding features that reduce fuel consumption and developing
telematics systems that help operators reduce fuel usage and
machine idling time.
" We've come a long way in the last few years on reducing harmful
emissions from our machines, " Gallant says. " Although there
are still improvements possible in diesel combustion technology
that we will continue to pursue, I think we're at a point where
most of the benefits have been realized. New technologies like
electric machines are the next frontier in emissions' reductions. "
The push for sustainability is also coming from the public and
private sectors. Governments worldwide are adopting more
clean-air regulations at local and regional levels. Also, many
companies are adopting sustainability policies, and they're asking
their partners to help them meet their targets. Sustainability
requirements are already showing up in project specifications,
and construction contractors should expect that trend to continue
to grow.
" Clearly there are huge world impacts with electromobility, but we
also need to remember the local impacts, " Benoit says. " A type of
pollution that comes from vehicle exhaust is a precursor to lung
and heart diseases. So it's important that we tackle this problem
for our local residents, in addition to the overall world issue. "
Charging and Fleet Performance Are Key
Bringing electromobility to the construction industry is not without
its challenges. Perhaps chief among them is building out the
charging infrastructure which is an issue for on-road EVs, too,
but construction equipment has the added challenge of being the
machines tasked with building or maintaining infrastructure.
The Volvo ECR25 Electric excavator and L25 Electric wheel
loader, which are already available to buy in select markets
and will be commercially available in the U.S. this year, run on
lithium-ion batteries. The excavator has a permanent-magnet
motor with a peak power of 18 kilowatts. The wheel loader has
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Magnetics Business & Technology - January/February 2022

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