Emission-free PV-E Crane crane experiences debut

The delivery of the first fully electric PV-E Crane to VolkerWessels Materieel & Logistiek (VWML) marks a new milestone on the road to emission-free construction sites. With a festive handover on Friday 18 March at the factory in Oosterhout in the province of Noord-Brabant, PV-E, VolkerWessels and UMS underline once again that sustainability is not something for the future, but that it is possible to start greening the machinery now.

Heuse world first

VWML's PV-E Crane EC160 is not the only zero emission crane, but it is still a real world first. In fact, it is the first electric crawler crane with an interchangeable battery pack, consisting of two LFP batteries of 130 kWh each. With these, the 160-ton crane should be able to run for a full working day (8 hours). If necessary, the crane can change the battery pack itself within 10 minutes to continue working emission-free without a power cable or without a - mostly diesel-powered - generator to recharge the batteries.

The Dutch crane manufacturer is thus fulfilling a wish of many large contractors to achieve a sustainable construction site: 100% circular. The interchangeable battery pack comes from Urban Mobility Systems (UMS) of Oss, which is pushing hard to electrify construction equipment. The company swears by a high-quality and safe approach based on automotive technology and recently received a prestigious CES Innovation Award for its Zero Emission conversion kit (complete with controls).

Clean, quiet and durable

Thanks to the electric drive, VolkerWessels has an extremely quiet and clean crane. The sustainable nature is further underlined by the fact that the batteries contain no acids or heavy metals and are fully recyclable. "Our aim is to make a substantial contribution to the transition to an emission-free, healthier construction site," says Rob van den Boogaard, Managing Director of PV-E Crane. "The crane is fully CE and TÜV certified and has now been extensively tested in practice."

The EC160 offers a green solution for a range of applications in construction, infra or (petrochemical) industry. The crawler crane has a lattice boom of up to 75 meters and delivers 160 tons of lifting capacity at 4 meters radius. With 63 meters of boom length, the crane can also be equipped with a 31-meter fixed jib. VWML's machine features a 42-meter main boom and 43-meter luffing jib. For optimal quality and reliability, only A-brand components from Rexroth, Hirschmann and Avezaat, among others, were used.

Impressive lineup

According to Van den Boogaard, the first job with the EC160 is eagerly awaited. "The first model has now been delivered, but there's still a lot of good stuff in the pipeline," it sounds expectantly. Indeed, behind the scenes, PV-E Crane is working on an impressive lineup of electric cranes. The EC line with lattice boom has a lifting capacity of 85, 100, 135, 160 or as much as 300 tons, while the ECT series will be equipped with a telescopic boom and can lift loads ranging from 65 to 120 tons.