ELECTRIC CONSTRUCTION
you can enter new sites with zeroemissions
and low-noise, that pricetag
is small compared to total
project cost,” says Brehmer.
A greener world
As French projects like Le Grand
Paris push forward zero-emissions
jobsites, electric machines may
become an increasing precondition
to urban works. But can they save
our ailing planet?
“WHEN HENRY FORD MADE HIS FIRST
CAR, THERE WERE HARDLY ANY
PROPER ROADS. HE DIDN’T WAIT FOR
THEM TO BE BUILT...”
Patrick Brehmer, head of design and product management, Mecalac
26 iVTInternational.com November 2019
“ ese machines enable zero
local emissions, but considering the
global carbon footprint gives a more
complex picture,” Nedjimi concedes.
“If electricity is generated from
coal and batteries produced using
heavy metals, then batteries could
increase toxicity. In India, electric
cars have a worse carbon footprint
than using diesel.”
But imponderable, planet-sized
questions should not preclude
building a better world, one
excavator at time.
“We’re a machine manufacturer
and don’t have all the solutions,”
says Brehmer. “If we wait until
everything around is clean and cities
produce cheap, sustainable energy,
then nothing is ever going to
happen. We make a choice: to go
forward, hoping others will follow.
When Henry Ford made his rst
car, there were hardly any proper
roads,” he adds. “He didn’t wait for
them to be built.”
“Electri cation changes
everything,” Brehmer continues. “It
changes the suppliers, components
and subcontractors; it changes
business models and nance; it
changes the relationship with cities
wanting to be rst with clean job
sites. Suddenly, countries from
Canada to Germany to the United
Arab Emirates have understood,
watching this machine, it’s the
perfect electric solution.”
Positioned in the clean urban
vanguard, France may soon behold
the rst, brilliant rays of a new
electric dawn. “We’re standing
before a paradigm shi towards
electromobility,” concludes Nedjimi.
“We can see the dynamics pushing
forward the technological change,
especially in cities, and we can see
the need to create a market that
doesn’t yet exist. e transition to
green machines is a journey and our
strategy is to drive it.” iVT
ABOVE: Ahcène Nedjimi
presents Volvo CE’s fi rst
electric excavator prototype,
the EX2, to French president
Emmanuel Macron
BELOW: The e12 is based on
the diesel 12MTX, thought
to be the world’s fi rst
articulated excavator
/iVTInternational.com
