Volvo Construction Equipment has introduced the mid-size L120 Electric wheel loader for North America. This machine from Volvo CE is designed to meet the growing demand for large, powerful equipment with reduced environmental impact.
"These larger battery-electric models mark a significant advancement toward zero-emission solutions that can help businesses and government fleets meet sustainability and productivity goals,” said Dr. Ray Gallant, vice president — Sustainability and Productivity Services, Volvo CE. “The electric excavator and wheel loader offer comparable performance to their diesel counterparts but with zero emissions, reduced noise and lower maintenance costs.”
The L120 Electric wheel loader is a 22-ton machine with 6-ton lifting capacity and a recommended rehandling bucket capacity of 5 yd³, giving it nearly identical performance capabilities as its conventional counterpart. It can handle a variety of applications, including infrastructure, waste and recycling, agriculture, forestry, as well as ports and logistics centers.
Its 282-kWh lithium-ion battery system can run for five to nine hours on a single charge, depending on the application. Charging options include a 50-kW DC mobile charger that will charge the L120 Electric from empty to full in about six hours or a 150-kW DC fast charger that can charge it from empty to full in two hours.
The L120 Electric wheel loader is equipped with separate electric motors for propulsion and hydraulics. The system recoups deceleration energy to extend battery runtime, reduce brake wear and minimize the need for axle oil cooling. The loader also features active cooling and heating of the high-voltage batteries as well as passive cooling for the electric motors, transmission and hydraulic oil.
It includes many of the same features as its diesel equivalent, including on-board weighing with the Volvo Load Assist system, torque parallel linkage, electro-hydraulic lever controls and auto bucket-leveling functions. The electric loader is compatible with a range of Volvo attachments, such as buckets, forks, grapples, brooms and snowplows.
