Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) has been awarded an Skr59m (US$7.14) grant from the Swedish Energy Agency to develop new technology connected to electromobility that could transform the construction equipment industry.
Volvo has teamed up with its customer Skanska Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency and two Swedish universities Linköpings University and Mälardalens University College to collaborate on a Skr203m (US$24.6m) project that will see the company develop a range of solutions that benefit customers and the environment.
Volvo CE has been working on the technologies that will be applied in this project for some time now and will continue to develop the concepts in-house before Skanska Sweden incorporates the machines into its operations in 2017 proving the technology is viable for the industry. The project aims to deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption, emissions and total cost of ownership while also improving productivity.
“This project involves creating new concepts which are part of our long-term future vision,” says Anders P Larsson, executive vice president of Volvo CE’s technology function. “The work that we’ll do over the next few years has the potential to change the entire construction industry.”
The Swedish Energy Agency is a government agency for national energy policy issues. It works for the use of renewable energy, improved technologies, a smarter end-use of energy and the mitigation of climate change.
“This type of cooperation between Volvo CE, its customers, the government and academic partners allows us to invest in new technologies and explore solutions that are both relevant for our customer base and address future challenges,” says Larsson.
“We are proud and grateful to have received this funding and are excited to start work on this future-oriented project.”
The initiative is jointly funded: Volvo CE is investing Skr129m (US$15.6m); the Swedish Energy Agency is providing Skr65m (US$7.9m) it has awarded Skr59m (US$7.1m) to Volvo CE, Skr5m (US$610,000) to Linköpings University, and Skr1m (US$120,000) to Mälardalens University College; and Skanska Sweden is contributing Skr9m (US$1.1m).
It is due to be completed in 2018.
June 25, 2015
