Volvo CE celebrates equipment and technology innovation at Volvo Days 2024

Volvo Construction Equipment welcomed nearly a thousand customers and dealers to its North American headquarters earlier this fall for Volvo Days 2024 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. This exclusive event held every few years showcased dozens of new and existing products and offered a unique opportunity for visitors to see and operate the full range of Volvo Construction Equipment machines. Attendees participated in in-depth discussions with product managers, were given an overview of the latest job site technologies, and experienced a dynamic machine show and factory tour. The 2024 event showcased Volvo's growing range of offerings in both conventional and electric power across the company's equipment lineup.

"Providing an exceptional customer experience is something we're focused on every day of the year, but Volvo Days gives us a special opportunity to celebrate our customers, strengthen relationships, and allow people to talk with our experts and test-drive machines," said Scott Young, head of Region North America.

Several new products were introduced to the North American market including the SD125 soil compactor, the R60 and R70 rigid haul trucks, the L120 Electric mid-size wheel loader, and the new-generation EC230 Electric mid-size excavator.

Volvo Days was the first chance for many customers to experience the new Volvo F Series excavators introduced earlier this summer. The new range features electro-hydraulic controls which enable superior integration with Volvo CE's Co-Pilot allowing further optimizations such as Dig Assist and other semi autonomous excavator functions. The new series includes several mid-size and larger models, with more to be introduced in the coming months. It represents the biggest update to the Volvo CE excavator lineup in two decades.

"It's critical that we give customers comprehensive solutions for their projects," said Young, "And that means pairing the right machines with the right services to help them optimize their safety, productivity, and uptime."

Expanded compaction machines 

Designed and built at the Volvo CE North American headquarters in Shippensburg, the SD125 has been designed for medium- to heavy-duty compaction jobs. The 12-ton machine is the largest model in the Volvo soil compaction range with an 84-inch smooth drum and operating weight of 26,565 pounds (12,050 kg). The new model has an additional 935 pounds (424 kg) of mass on the drum, increasing the static load and eccentric force for a different amplitude profile than the current SD115.

As terrain and material depths change, the ability to adjust dynamic drum forces is as simple as the flip of a switch on the new SD125. Another switch adjusts the two drum frequencies to compensate for changing conditions, and a five-frequency feature is available as an option to further boost versatility and performance.

A heavy-duty axle is integrated into the drivetrain for an efficient rear wheel drive system. The No-Spin differential increases traction, eliminates tire slippage, and improves gradeability, performance, and productivity. A high-traction variant is available for demanding applications where additional torque is needed to tackle extreme slopes or thick lifts of loose material. All three levels of Compact Assist software are available on the in-cab tablet allowing users to determine the visibility, mapping, and reporting.

Volvo has started to expand its electric offerings into the compaction segment and teased its electric compaction prototypes, including the DD15 Electric double-drum roller, a smaller counterpart of the DD25 already in the market, as well as the new TC13 Electric trench roller, its first ever offering in the product category.

Extended rigid hauler lineup now includes the R60 and R70 

Volvo's expanded rigid haulers line has expanded with the R60 with a body volume of 47 cubic yards (36 cubic metres), and the R70 offers 55.6 cubic yards (42.5 cubic metres), which makes them well-matched for the loading abilities of Volvo's EC950 crawler excavator and the L350H wheel loader. The machines feature a V-shaped haul body for maximum load retention and minimal carry-back post-dumping. The dumping process itself is also speedy thanks to a fast-tip system.

Providing real-time insights on payload, the optional on-board weighing system helps operators apply the industry standard 10/10/20 payload, where the machine can take 10 percent overload for 10 percent of the time but should not exceed 20 percent. Both the R60 and R70 are designed with a new adaptive retarder system that can automatically control the rear braking system when travelling downhill.

When it comes to grip, the high-drive axle multiplication ensures maximum traction while the high-torque engine reduces fuel consumption with an automatic adaptive gear selection called Volvo Dynamic Shift Control. The engine also has an ECO mode that defaults to the most efficient gear, while the auto engine idle reduces engine wear and boosts fuel efficiency. The haulers feature gear-dependent speed control and a selectable brake or transmission retarder, which also helps reduce operator fatigue. Early feedback from aggregate and light mining customers has been extremely positive. 

Volvo also showed a sneak peek of its next-generation articulated dump trucks, which are scheduled to be released in 2025. 

Electric goes larger with mid-size wheel loader and excavator models

Volvo has already established itself as having the largest offering of electric compact machines in the industry and is now expanding into mid-size electric machines with the L120 wheel loader and the EC230 excavator, designed to meet the growing demand for larger, more powerful equipment with reduced environmental impact and more sustainable power systems. 

"These larger battery-electric models mark a significant advancement toward zero-emission solutions that can help businesses and government fleets meet sustainability and productivity goals," said Dr. Ray Gallant, vice president — Sustainability and Productivity Services. "The electric excavator and wheel loader offer comparable performance to their diesel counterparts but with zero emissions, reduced noise, and lower maintenance costs."

The L120 Electric wheel loader is a 22-ton machine with 6-ton lifting capacity and a recommended rehandling bucket capacity of 5 cubic yards, giving it nearly identical performance capabilities as its conventional counterpart.

Its 282-kWh lithium-ion battery system can run for five to nine hours on a single charge, depending on the application. Charging options include a 50-kW DC mobile charger that will charge the L120 Electric from empty to full in about six hours or a 150-kW DC fast charger that can charge it from empty to full in two hours.

The L120 Electric wheel loader is equipped with separate electric motors for propulsion and hydraulics. The system recoups deceleration energy to extend battery runtime, reduce brake wear, and minimize the need for axle oil cooling. The loader also features active cooling and heating of the high-voltage batteries as well as passive cooling for the electric motors, transmission, and hydraulic oil.

It includes many of the same features as its diesel equivalent, including on-board weighing with the Volvo Load Assist system, torque parallel linkage, electro-hydraulic lever controls, and auto bucket-levelling functions.