The Future of the world is electric. As time continues to pass and more advancements are made companies are able to make more and more impressive electrical advancements. With electric becoming the way of the future Volvo seems to have the right idea to be pursing the industry now.
Excavators
Volvo CE (Construction Equipment) has released its Volvo EX2 concept excavator. This is a prototype for an electric compact excavator. This is big news to many fields in which compact Excavators are commonly used. As the Swedish equipment manufacturer has claimed this new model of electric excavators which is powered with electric drive systems and electromechanical linear actuators, is the very first electric excavator in the world.
On this excavator there is no combustion engine instead, the Volvo EX2 is fueled by two lithium-ion batteries that deliver an impressive 38kWh of power. Accordion to Volvo these batteries can power the excavator for eight hours of intense usage. Intense usage here would be something along the lines of excavation of compact ground.
The reveal of this Excavator followed only eight months after Volvo CE released its LX1 hybrid electric wheel loader and their HX1 autonomous electric hauler.
“The prototype machine delivers the same power and force as its conventional counterpart, as well as faster speeds in combined movements. This represents the future of our industry.” Stated. Ahcène Nedjimi, the lead electronic engineer for the Volvo EX2 project
Unlike other more conventional models with a hydraulics system the LX1 hybrid electric wheel loader and the EX2 use electrical systems that take advantage of electromechanical mechanical linear actuators to power its boom and tools.
All of these features and they provide zero emissions unlike their fuel counterparts. Volvo CE stated some of the other advantages of removing the combustion engine as it being ten times as efficient ten times lower noise levels, and a reduced cost of ownership when compared to gas-powered excavators.
These vehicles were released with the intention of focusing on infrastructure and transport in the world of the future. In the future, Volvo hopes that the low noise of the electric excavator will be useful in urban settings.
Volvo has not decided to stop there though. Volvo is continuing research into how to outfit quarries completely with heavy electrical equipment. Soon field tests for the LX1 hybrid wheel loader and the HX1 electric hauler. The end goal of this project is to create an electrified quarry in which there are no carbon emissions and the cost of ownership at the quarry is reduced by 25%.
There is no doubt these features are the future and will greatly assist machinery operators and excavator hire services. Keep an eye out for their arrival at dealerships in the near future.
Electric Coming to Australia
Saudi’s Abdul Latif Jameel plans to use Solar power to power 40,000 Australian homes. Abdul Latif Jameel Energy is a renewable energy firm coming out of Saudi Arabia. They recently announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) with one of Australia’s major electricity generation and retailing companies Snowy Hydro.
This new agreement will permit FRV to deliver solar power from 90MWac Sebastopol Solar Farm in Australia’s New South Wales and connect to the national energy grid
The plant will bring even more electricity into the world by generating enough power for more than 40,000 Australian houses. As if that was not good enough, they will also be eliminating the emission of about 77,600 tons of CO2 annually; This is equivalent to taking 27,700 cars off the road every year. On top of everything else, the FRV project will generate 150 jobs during the construction and 2-3 operational staff for the lifetime of the project.
With electricity becoming more plentiful the future for non-renewable sources of energy is coming to a close. Not only has electricity shown to be more effective than other forms of energy or fuel but it is carbon conscious. By saving the planet that everyone lives on everyone wins. This is why electric energy and environmentally friendly energy generators are the future.
