This week, Volvo Group held its once-every-three-years “Volvo Days” occasion in Shippensburg, PA for the primary time for the reason that pandemic, exhibiting off tons (actually!) of latest gear, new vans, and new ideas – together with a few “world’s first” debuts.
What’s Volvo Days? Which may require a little bit of background …
The heavy gear world operates on one thing of a three-year cycle. ConExpo, the business’s largest commerce present, occurs each three years. That units the tone, with firms exhibiting off all their hottest ideas and forward-thinking new initiatives. That’s yr 1. 12 months 2 is often when reveals like Volvo Days sometimes happen, with producers rolling out the manufacturing variations of the ideas they confirmed at ConExpo and welcoming a mixture of sellers, end-users, and journalists in to check out a few of what acquired confirmed at ConExpo. 12 months 3 is extra insular, with the producers bringing in salespeople to get them skilled on new merchandise and put together them for speak about what the corporate is planning to point out at subsequent yr’s ConExpo.
ConExpo was final yr, so this yr we get Volvo Days – for the primary time since 2018, in truth, for the reason that 2021 occasion was canceled as a result of COVID. That makes this the primary Volvo Days in six years … and expectations had been excessive.
The kickoff
Volvo kicked off the week’s occasions with a drone show highlighting the corporate’s building gear historical past – applicable, on condition that the occasion was held at Volvo CE’s Pennsylvania engineering and manufacturing campus. The drone present was adopted by a genuinely spectacular, extremely choreographed gear ballet that featured new electrical gear proven for the primary time in North America, in addition to the new-for-2025 Volvo VNL and Mack MD Electrical vans doing a little heavy lifting and hauling.
The present lasted nicely over thirty minutes, and it was unimaginable for me to maintain observe of all the things that was taking place, however you may get a way of it within the video (above).
Compact electrical gear
Volvo had its new, in-production L20/120 Electrical wheel loader and ECR25 Electrical excavator entrance and heart in its reception heart, together with data highlighting their aggressive benefits within the compact gear area.
The perfect factor about Volvo Days, nonetheless, isn’t that they’ve fascinating automobiles on show – it’s the truth that practically each a type of fascinating automobiles is accessible to expertise first hand … together with the 30-ton EC230 Electrical excavator.
All the electrical excavators (even the mini) had been extremely easy and quiet, with noticeably fewer vibrations than their diesel counterparts … which we additionally acquired to play with.
That mentioned, I’m not a “actual” gear operator, which implies my seat of the pants impressions are in all probability price lower than these of the individuals who use these items every single day. That’s why I used to be glad to have Mike Switzer, my co-host on The Heavy Tools Podcast, alongside for the experience.
“It’s actually spectacular, and the articulation on the Steelwrist is unimaginable,” Mike instructed me, after hopping out of the demo EC230. “I’ve seen it earlier than, clearly, however I’ve by no means had an opportunity to make use of it. I feel each municipality wants to try that.”
Electrical compaction
Over on the compaction aspect, Volvo had its DD25 Electrical vibrating drum compactor on show – the place the all-electric tandem curler was joined by two all-new siblings being proven off for the primary time ever: a pre-production DD15 Electrical “mini” compactor prototype seemingly designed for sidewalks and driveways, and the TC13 Electrical trench compactor.
The TC13 Electrical is designed as a walk-behind unit that makes use of its heavy batteries to offer the compaction mass – however these heavy batteries gained’t get depleted within the hour or so of operation that almost all trench compactors see on a busy day. To maintain the little TC13 helpful all through the day, Volvo gave it a pair of 110 and 220V retailers.
Specs weren’t launched, however Volvo’s compaction model supervisor claimed these retailers had been greater than able to maintaining the remainder of the job website’s battery-operated instruments operating all day lengthy, and even packed sufficient juice (in a pinch) to energy a conveyable workplace, desk noticed, or drill press.
“Did you see his face once I requested if it might run an arc welder?” requested Mike, smiling. “He mentioned, ‘It’s not one thing we’d advise,’ however you could possibly inform he appreciated that query.”
Yeah, he did!
Electrek’s Take
Someplace across the twenty minute mark of the “gear ballet” present, one thing broke inside my mind. I feel it was the sparks flying off the bucket when the L20 Electrical scooped up a couple of thousand kilos of gravel and sand at full pace, scraping its bucket alongside the bottom. Possibly it was the hydrogen-powered articulated loader, or the open bar.
Regardless, one factor that was made very clear at Volvo Days ’24 is that, whereas different firms are nonetheless creating the preliminary entries into the electrical business car area, Volvo has not only a full line of merchandise – however an increasing line of merchandise, with the corporate getting into new areas particularly due to the distinctive benefits electrical provides.
As Volvo’s North American President, Scott Younger, explains, the longer term is electrical, and Volvo’s imaginative and prescient for the longer term has the corporate firmly within the management place … however extra on that partially 2.
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