First Volvo electric loader put to work

“Quiet”, “emission-free” and “easy-to-maintain” are the three key terms tree farm and landscaping company, Leick Baumschulen, has used to describe Volvo’s L25 Electric compact wheel loader.

The loader, along with Volvo’s electric excavator – the ECR25 was unveiled at this year’s bauma trade fair in Germany, as part of its commitment to a cleaner future.

The farm, based 30 minutes from the Volvo CE factory in Konz, Germany, where the L25 Electric will be produced from mid-2020, is the first organisation in the world to test the new “green” machine.

Leick Baumschulen has been a Volvo customer for 34 years with a strong focus on sustainability and openness to new technologies related to environmental aspects. The operators at the premise use compact wheel loaders daily for a wide range of jobs – from pallet handling and loading material to grading and sweeping.

“This variety of tasks makes it the perfect real-world scenario for us to test our new electric compact wheel loader together with our customer,” said Volvo CE global compact wheel loader product manager, Paolo Mannesi.

Having already invested in electric golf carts to show customers around its large yard and display area, Leick Baumschulen wanted to explore the advantages of electrification for its fleet of construction equipment too.

The Volvo L25 electric loader is powered by lithium-ion batteries that Volvo claimed can cover an eight hour working shift with one single charge in the machine’s regular applications, which include light infrastructure work, gardening, landscaping and agriculture.

The L25 also incorporates two dedicated electric motors – one for the drivetrain and one of the hydraulics. Decoupling the subsystems has led to higher efficiency across the entire machine, Volvo added.

According to Leick Baumschulen operators, the Volvo L25 Electric functions much like a conventional diesel-powered machine but with the benefits of electrification.

“It is a product with the right performance and great design,” said Leick Baumschulen co-owner, Christoph Leick.

“The machine operates like a conventional wheel loader, but with improved comfort for the driver and surroundings – it feels similar when it comes to power but is quieter has less vibration, less maintenance and is emission-free locally.”

The quiet operation of the Volvo L25 Electric is among its biggest advantages, the company added.

“We also operate the machine to transport plants in our show area where customers are coming in and out,” Leick said.

“With this machine, it is more comfortable for our customers and our employees as the noise level is much lower. This means we can keep our conversation and discussions going with our customers when the machine is operating nearby.”

The ease of maintenance of the L25 loader also impressed the operators.

“The machine requires less maintenance as it has no engine – we don’t need to check the engine oil and coolant every day or refuel,” Leick said.

“We simply charge it overnight, which is very easy. You just need to plug one end of the charger into the machine as well as the other into a normal household socket. That’s it. There’s actually nothing you can do wrong – it is easy and safe.”

Volvo CE’s Paolo Mannesi said the company is very satisfied with the machine performance when it comes to the power, the low noise level and driver comfort.

“I’m really proud of the team at Volvo CE for all the hard work they have done to make the L25 Electric possible,” he said.

“We can see that the really good teamwork gets reflected in the Project as well as in the Product. It’s so great to see the machine now working at a customer’s site and how it makes their daily job easier and more comfortable.”

The Volvo L25 Electric compact wheel loader is currently being tested by Leick Baumschulen in a pilot phase. The machine will be available for general sale from mid-2020 when Volvo CE will stop the development of new diesel engine-based L20 to L28 compact wheel loader models.