London pilot brings mobile charging to electric construction equipment

Electric construction equipment is quieter, cleaner, and safer to operate than diesel equipment anywhere, but that’s especially true in crowded urban areas where more people live and work. Charging that equipment isn’t always as easy as driving over to the nearest BP Pulse fast charger, however. Now, a new pilot program in London is hoping to eliminate the need to take equipment to chargers, and bringing charging to them.

In a six week trial program with TfL (Transport for London, the public body that manages London’s transportation system), contractor FM Conway is bringing mobile charging to Volvo CE electric construction vehicles deployed at various construction sites in and around London.

UK startup Charge Fairy (really) works by bringing electricity to site on a battery-packed mobile charging van. The van takes power to whichever machines need it, helping to address the challenges of having reliable grid access on hand or trailering the equipment assets back and forth to charging stations.

“The trial of electric construction vehicles at (London’s) Redcliffe Gardens is such a vital part of achieving our goals, and our work with FM Conway, Volvo CE, and Charge Fairy shows how construction across our transport network can be environmentally conscious,” explains Carl Eddleston, TfL’s Director of Network Management and Resilience and manager of the new pilot. “We are going to review the trial results and carry on exploring the best ways to decarbonize our network construction chain.”

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The pilot plans its charging routes using on-board vehicle telematics to get real-time updates on the machines’ charging levels. When a machine’s battery reads low, the van gets deployed and the asset can typically get juiced up in as little as one hour.

Electrek’s Take

As the electric construction equipment market evolves, the winners will be the manufacturers who deliver bulletproof, seamless operation from a dealer and support network that’s just as bulletproof and seamless. The municipal equipment market deals with complaints of noises and smells more than most, meaning it is primed for electrification – it’s just a matter of which brand will deliver the most capable, flexible solutions to market first.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo CE.