Volvo Construction Equipment says it is building a one-of-a-kind booth experience at the 2023 ConExpo-Con/Agg to provide attendees with a glimpse into the future of the construction industry.
Stephen Roy, Volvo CE North American region president, said visitors can experience the company’s newest and most popular machines, speak to experts and test out Volvo’s lineup of compact electric excavators and wheel loaders.
With electrification and other advances being a highlight, the theme for the 55,000-square-foot Volvo CE booth is "Change Starts Here. Be Ready for It."
{You can see more of what other OEMs have in store for ConExpo 2023 on our show preview page by clicking here.}
“I think all of us realize there is a huge change going on in the society that is affecting everyone in all industries,” said Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE. “Within our industry, Volvo and Volvo CE want to take the lead and transform the industry both when it comes to being more sustainable, but also at the same time be more productive.”
He said it will be important now for current generations but even more so for future ones.
“At ConExpo we want to help our customers to be ready and to be prepared for the change,” Jernberg said. "I think we will do that by showing all our wide range of commercially available electrical machines that we have today and through related charging infrastructure and other sustainable power alternatives.”
However, he emphasized that Volvo CE can’t do it alone.
“We don't want to do it ourselves, and we believe in the power of strong partnerships,” Jernberg said. “Hopefully we also can demonstrate some of the great partnerships that we have today that have helped us to reduce the carbon footprint of our products, but also to bring all these different solutions. into reality.”
Most of the focus has been on battery electrification on all the products. But, he added, “We are also together with partners developing hydrogen fuel cell solutions, which is also an electrical solution, but at the same time, also looking into different ways of how we can continue to run the combustion engine in a very good and sustainable way.”
In addition to two large operating arenas in the booth for testing the compact electric machines, Volvo CE will also showcase its electric lineup expansion with the 23-ton EC230 Electric mid-size excavator and DD25 Electric asphalt compactor.
The EC 230 is Volvo’s first mid-sized piece of heavy equipment to be electrified. It has a 600-volt battery and is a 23-ton excavator.
"It is our first step into electrifying the rest of the range of our larger equipment," said Ray Gallant, Volvo CE vice president of product management and productivity.
The EC 230 has been out in Europe, on customer trials and the company has been promoting it there.
“Now it's coming to North America and will be put on customer trials this year in 2023 and have it available for sale in 2024,” Gallant said.
The glimpse into the future of the industry will not stop at electric though. Volvo CE will also display autonomous concepts, a hydrogen fuel cell articulated hauler and a remote-controlled unit.
Also, the company will be unveiling its next series of excavators at 10 a.m. March 14, the day the show opens. In addition, the upgraded L350 wheel loader and other Volvo excavators, wheel loaders, haulers will be displayed.
More than the iron
Inside the Solutions Hall, attendees will be able to speak to experts about services and technology that can be tailored to the way they do business to grow now and into the future.
“This Solutions Hall is there to have discussions with customers about what pain points they have, what is it that we can do with some of our solutions and may be able to solve some of their problems,” Roy said.
A variety of Volvo CE experts from North America and Europe will discuss the various products and solutions.
“Our goal is to share the progress we've made and quite frankly get feedback from the customers on those other pain points,” Roy said. “What can our digital tools do to make you more productive and make you safer? This is as much about driving your total cost of ownership as the machine.”
News about advancements with Volvo’s Co-Pilot display system and other assist programs on various machines will also be highlighted.
Solution offerings include:
Site solutions that give customers tailored recommendations for their fleet — regardless of brand — optimize site setup and reduce the risk of accidents.
Business solutions to help customers streamline transactions and better control costs.
Financial solutions including bundles and offers that help customers better manage cash flow during seasonal slowdowns.
ActiveCare Direct, Volvo's telematics machine monitoring and reporting service, which provides proactive fleet intelligence.
One area of the booth will be dedicated to solutions that Volvo CE can bring to the market via AC charging solutions and DC fast chargers that go directly into the battery pack. Volvo’s current electric machines can be charged with a regular household 240-volt outlet
Gallant said the systems are fully compatible with EV charging systems. “If you have an EV at home or you have a charging system along the roadside, you can plug in a machine and charge from that source as well.”
As Volvo moves further into heavier machines, the DC charging options will be offered up to the heaviest equipment made with 600-volt batteries.
“When it comes to charging solution, it goes beyond just having chargers that plug into it,” Gallant noted. “Many of our customers' jobsites are in remote locations where you don't have access to a grid.”
He said Volvo is working with several partners for solutions to not only plug into the grid for charging but to take the power to get electrical energy into the machine.
Additional systems could involve Volvo working through a third-party company to generate electricity on site, in a renewable fashion, and provide customers another source to charge their machines, run trailers or any electrical equipment from the same power source.
“It's not just about replacing the power pack or the diesel engine,” Gallant said. “It's about making the whole site better and more efficient, more productive. We're still in the early days of this conversion to electric equipment or sustainable power so I'd encourage everybody to come into our booth and talk to us about the different models that we're putting out, the technologies, tips and tricks on how to make them work, how to be productive and strategies for charging or refueling these machines.”
Other events and options
Roy said attendees can also meet members of Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush” cast Tuesday through Friday in the Volvo booth, as well as other popular construction industry influencers during a meet-and-greet Wednesday afternoon.
In addition, visitors will get an up-close look at an FIA World Rallycross electric race car.
Options also will be available for those unable to attend ConExpo 2023 in person.
Volvo CE will host a free virtual event called “Volvo at ConExpo Live" on March 14-17, allowing people unable to attend the trade show in person to experience the Volvo CE booth virtually. Content will include product launches, machine walkarounds, Q&A sessions with product experts.
Volvo at ConExpo live will be hosted on a proprietary digital platform, which will subsequently be used for future virtual experiences. It will start at 10 a.m. PST each day March 14-17 and last approximately three hours except for the final day, which will be two hours. The full schedule is available on the Volvo at ConExpo Live website.
Registration for Volvo at ConExpo Live is live at https://virtual-events.volvoce.com/en-US/brand-events/volvo-at-conexpo-live.
