Transport for London (TfL) is working with the construction industry on a new trial of zero emission construction vehicles, which involves mobile recharging.
TfL and FM Conway have partnered with Volvo Construction Equipment and dealer SMT to deliver the pilot at Redcliffe Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with an electric excavator and wheel loader replacing equipment traditionally powered by fossil fuels.
The EVs use a method of recharging provided by Charge Fairy, a British electric charging startup.
They are able to provide real-time updates on the machines’ charging levels when on-site, which feeds into a team who can then send a charging van to the site.
This method of bringing the charger to the vehicle allows the construction machines to be recharged in an hour.
Early data from the trial confirms that in a two-week period, the electric excavator saved more than 100kg of CO2.
The use of zero-emission electric vehicles demonstrates TfL’s commitment to reaching the Mayor of London’s target for London to be net zero carbon by 2030.
Carl Eddleston, TfL’s Director of Network Management and Resilience, said, “The trial of electric construction vehicles at 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.
“We are going to review the trial results and carry on exploring the best ways to decarbonise our network construction chain.”
Ed Lea, Founder of Charge Fairy, said, “Our work at Redcliffe Gardens with TfL, Conway, and Volvo CE has demonstrated how intelligent energy delivery enables electric plant to operate for a full workday, overcoming one of the key challenges of construction electrification.”
