Helping our customers and society meet their challenges

Husqvarna Construction is committed to ensuring customer demands and the reality of their everyday challenges drive product development. This can be achieved in many ways, one of these being participation in innovative collaborative projects like the Kempower fully electrified construction site.

Kempower is a global supplier of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. At their US headquarters, Husqvarna Construction, in collaboration with Volvo Construction Equipment, Atlas Copco and the Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative, were tasked with the installation of an EV charging station. With the theme ‘use electric to build electric’ at its heart, the project aimed to establish the feasibility of zero exhaust emission construction sites as well as their potential for broader adoption. However, as Stijn Verherstraeten, SVP at Husqvarna Construction explains, the collaboration also presented an outstanding opportunity to learn –

“The desired primary outcome of this project was to give us insights and good examples to share with potential customers and communities facing the same challenges and the requirement to reduce emissions.”

Husqvarna Construction supplied electrified machinery and associated diamond tools suitable for the project. Our K 1 PACE power cutter and battery compactor LF 60i LAT were among the machines, excavators and tools used, and in addition, operator training was provided. Adam Björk, Sustainability Director, Husqvarna Construction, is quick to respond when asked why the company was keen to take part –

“We joined this partnership to showcase our commitment to electrification and how we can support the journey toward low CO₂ emission construction sites.”

Building confidence in battery-powered equipment

To extract useable data, CO₂ emissions and energy consumption were measured during the execution phase and showed that even this small-scale installation of six DC chargers saved 258 kg of CO₂, a figure validated by Swedish consultancy Sweco. These findings were compiled in a user case report that also included a summary of operator insights regarding how they experienced using only electric products and solutions. As well as offering valuable knowledge that can have a positive impact on product development, these customer insights also revealed much about how attitudes to electric construction equipment are shifting. Frida Sylvan, Product Marketing Director at Husqvarna Construction –

“It’s really rewarding to see how operator experiences evolve in projects like this. They came in with low expectations towards battery powered equipment - and they ended up being positive. This tells us again how important it is to build confidence among operators if we are to be successful in shifting to a higher degree of electrification in the market.”

Insights today, solutions tomorrow

The Kempower project is further confirmation that the transition to clean energy will require a collaborative approach and a commitment to include the entire value chain. And as Stijn Verherstraeten points out, the knowledge gained also provides a template for future product development activities –

“This project has given us many learnings and a collaborative platform we can continue to build on. So, what’s next? At Husqvarna Construction, we’ll continue to actively promote partnerships to explore and drive electrification in the construction business.”

Watch below the project partners in action building an EV charging station together at the Kempower HQ in Durham, North Carolina – a project which helped collectively save 258 kg of CO₂ over the four week building period.

Photo: Brian Gomsak