Volvo CE is getting into the spirit of the holidays with the donation of a band-new, $100,000 Volvo ECR25 Electric mini excavator to the Westfield Technical Academy’s horticulture department in Massachusetts.
School staff, including Nathan Sperry, the head of Westfield’s horticulture department, told Mass Live that he’s excited about the donation. And, because it has no harmful emissions, his students will be able to use the electric mini excavator indoors for training over the cold winter months, ensuring they’ll be able to take on jobs on live construction sites as soon as the weather clears. “Currently, students train on a simulator,” he told reporters. “Now, they can get on the real machine after lessons.”
Those students will be learning on a state-of-the-art machine. One that’s equipped with a 2.5 tonne (~5,500 lbs.) capacity that’s powered by an 18 kW (~20 hp) electric motor fed by a 20 kWh li-ion battery pack that promises up to four hours of continuous operation.
And, if you’ve ever driven past a job site and seen an idle machine, you already know that four continuous hours of work is plenty — but when it’s not enough, the ECR25 Electric can be connected to a 50 kW DC fast charger and be back to work in under an hour.
The donation of the ECR25 Electric, valued at a total of $100,000, was made possible by a number of stakeholders, including J.L. Raymaakers Construction, Tyler Equipment Corp., and Volvo CE. You can learn more about the donation in the WWLP-22News report, below.
Electrek’s Take
There seem to be a number of fresh news stories about Volvo donating electric equipment to schools — and that’s awesome. Apple pursued a similar strategy getting into school computer labs a generation ago and now my kids are learning on iPads all day while Mac and iPhone sales continue to be the envy of the industry.
Mark my words, gang: a generation of operators and technicians who grew up wrenching on battery electric Volvo machinery won’t want to grease up and slide under a diesel.
SOURCE: WWLP-22News, via Construction Equipment; featured image by Volvo CE.
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