Volvo to produce electric wheel loaders in Sweden
By Adam Freill
Construction Equipment Green ConstructionEquipment manufacturer is targeting 2040 to be entirely fossil free, with 35 per cent of machines sold to be electric by 2030.
(Photo courtesy of Volvo CE)
Volvo Group is spending US$6.3 million to bring electric wheel loader production to its Arvika factory in Sweden. That facility currently specializes in the production of medium and large wheel loaders. The funding will allow the plant to expand its facilities with a new building and the phasing in of the additional product line.
Volvo is also investing in manufacturing facilities for electric haulers, which will be produced at the company’s facility in Braås, Sweden.
The investments, said Volvo CE in an announcement, are a signpost of the company’s commitment to achieving more sustainable solutions for customers across all its product lines. Volvo CE expects to be completely fossil free by 2040 – in line with the aims of the Paris Agreement and as laid out in the manufacturer’s industry leading Science-Based Target goals. It has also proclaimed its ambition that 35 per cent of its machines sold to be electric by 2030.
“This is a clear signal of our commitment to building the world we want to live in. It is more than 40 years since we last invested in a new building and what better reason now than to invest in our future, our planet and the next generation,” stated Arvika site manager Mikael Liljestrand. “We know that this is not only important to our customers and stakeholders, who rightly have high expectations on us, but it is also close to our hearts to be part of something bigger in building our future.”
Arvika will erect a new 1,500 square-metre building, which will free up areas inside its assembly factory to be able to build the electric wheel loaders. Selection of models and timing of the electric transformation has yet to be finalized, but both electric wheel loaders and more traditional wheel loaders fitted with combustion engines will continue for now on the same production line.
Volvo CE has already successfully introduced compact electric wheel loaders to the global market with its L20 Electric and L25 Electric wheel loaders. Together with its ECR25 Electric, ECR18 Electric and EC18 Electric compact excavators and the mid-size EC230 Electric excavator, the company says it has one of the largest electric ranges on the market.
