Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) brought its range of current and future sustainable solutions to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ (AEM) Celebration of Construction event, held on the National Mall in the heart of Washington DC on May 14-16.
The Sweden-based quarrying and construction equipment manufacturer says that, with one of the largest industry line-ups of electric machines, it is perfectly positioned to work with policymakers to support and accelerate their deployment.
Stephen Roy, president of region North America, Volvo CE, said: “We are delivering the solutions we need to reduce carbon emissions and build a better world, but it is policymakers who are making decisions every day that will impact how the equipment industry will grow. In the US, we need federal, state and local governments to ensure the necessary resources are deployed to support the transition to cleaner equipment.”
The AEM event brought together more than 40 construction industry manufacturers and infrastructure-focused organizations to the National Mall, the renowned civic center at the heart of US government in Washington DC. Policymakers visiting the Volvo booth included Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to the President on Infrastructure and Rep. Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as a number of senior US representatives and leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The aim of the event was to educate policymakers, as well as the general public, on the societal benefits of modern construction equipment, while urgently driving forward the required collaboration. Volvo CE stated that permitting reform is needed to modernize the electric grid and increase domestic production of critical minerals, while federal and state investments and incentives are needed to help manufacturers remain competitive in tomorrow’s markets with reliable and diversified supply chains.
On display at the Volvo CE booth were the L20 Electric and L25 Electric compact wheeled loaders, the ECR18 Electric and ECR25 Electric compact excavators, the DD25 Electric asphalt compactor, the mid-size EC230 Electric excavator – one of Volvo CE’s largest electric machines which will be made commercially available in North America in 2024 – and the innovative HX04, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell articulated hauler prototype.
