What is electric construction equipment?

SWEDISH construction machine manufacturer Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) on Wednesday (Jun 7) debuted three electric construction equipment (ECE) models in Singapore, which it said is the first for fully-electric construction machines in South-east Asia. Volvo CE showed off the ECR25 compact excavator, L25 compact wheel loader and the EC55 compact excavator at an event in Sentosa. The company said it hopes that 35 per cent of the machines it sells by 2030 will be electrified. “We are launching our first electric machines in South-east Asia, and we believe it will act as a launch pad for further sales, both in Singapore and the wider regional market,” said Tomas Kuta, Volvo CE’s president for the Asia region.

Here is the lowdown on what ECE is all about:

What exactly is electric construction equipment? Put simply, it is fully-electrified versions of construction equipment (CE) used by the construction industry. In ECE, an electric motor and battery replace the typical diesel power unit. 

Is ECE a new concept? Hybrid construction equipment has been around since 2008, when Japanese equipment manufacturer Komatsu debuted the first hybrid CE using diesel-electric power. 

But fully-electric construction equipment is a new development. Most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have shown off concepts of ECE that will be introduced in the next few years, while some have already released a limited number of electric models to the global market.

These models also tend to be on the smaller, lighter-duty side of the CE scale, such as the models Volvo unveiled in Singapore. No OEM has a comprehensive range of ECE that matches all of their conventional, diesel-powered offerings as yet. 

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Is there a big difference in performance? If we take Volvo’s ECR25E as an example, it claims to provide a very similar level of performance to its existing diesel equivalent, the ECR25D. In some cases, the company claims that ECE can outperform normal construction equipment, such as in the DD25 electric asphalt compactor, which has 30 per cent more power than its diesel equivalent.

How do you charge ECE and how long does it take? You plug them in, much like the same way an electric vehicle is charged.

To charge from zero to 80 per cent, Volvo’s ECR25 Electric excavator takes around six hours with regular charging from 230-volt alternating current electricity, and less than an hour with high-voltage direct current charging.

What are the pros of ECE?  ECE reduces the amount of air and noise pollution, since they emit no local emissions and are significantly quieter.

In general terms, electric motors are more efficient than diesel ones, and they do not need oil changes, for example. That could translate to lower running costs in the long term.

Any cons? Like it is with EVs, electric components – especially batteries -– are more expensive, and that means ECE have increased up-front costs.

“In all cases, it really depends on the specific application and the machines involved, but generally (the up-front cost of ECE) can be from 50 per cent to up to 2.5 times more,” said Kuta.

EVs also face a similar problem, but both EVs and ECE can provide long-term benefits to businesses, he said.

“There are also big potential savings for clients in terms of maintenance and fuel. Within three or four years of operation, they should be able to cover the extra cost of ECE over conventional equipment,” he said.

Unlike EVs however, there are currently no incentives or subsidies for the adoption of ECE in Singapore.

Charging takes more time than refuelling, so ECE may have more downtime for users. High-voltage sources for charging may also be challenging to provide at remote work sites or in certain situations. Lastly, if the energy used to charge the ECE is not renewable, then the savings in emissions will not be as significant. Like EVs, materials used in the manufacturing such as cobalt and lithium may have issues with sustainability and ethical sourcing. 

How much can ECE help, really?  There is not much extant research on the emissions of construction equipment, so specific estimates cannot be made.   

The European Rental Association, which represents the CE rental industry in Europe, says that construction is responsible for about a fifth of global emissions, although this includes the carbon footprint of building materials and other factors.

Estimates on new construction equipment sales around the world in 2022 were around 1.1 million. Since the burning of diesel emits significant amounts of particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulphur, the potential savings in terms of air pollution alone could be considerable.   Will ECE eventually replace all fossil-fuel powered construction equipment? As it is with electric cars and commercial vehicles, ECE is part of a range of solutions that have been proposed including improving the efficiency of existing diesel technology, as well as using biofuels or hydrogen.