August 27, 2023
Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), Shippensburg, Pa., hosted federal, state and local officials at its Shippensburg, Pa., facility on Aug. 18 to commemorate local design and production of the company’s first electric asphalt compactor. The DD25 Electric compactor marks the next step in the company’s sustainability journey, Volvo officials said.
The company’s battery-electric machines started arriving on North American job sites more than a year ago. The DD25 Electric compactor will be produced in the U.S. The first models are expected to be delivered in early 2024. The company aims to have 35 percent of its product line be electric by 2030.
“This is a monumental day at Volvo CE,” said Scott Young, acting president of Region North America, Volvo CE. “Manufacturing electric machines in Shippensburg is good news for the environment, our customers, the local economy, and the broader U.S. construction equipment industry.”
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., and U.S. Rep. John Joyce, both of Pennsylvania, commended Volvo CE for being an economic stalwart in the region and for driving transformation to cleaner energy.
“The equipment manufactured in Pennsylvania’s 13th District is used in projects around the world,” said Rep. Joyce. “With the opening of its new assembly line to produce electric asphalt compactors here in Shippensburg, Volvo Construction Equipment is helping to carry on that legacy. The family-sustaining jobs this expansion creates in Franklin and Cumberland counties are a welcome addition for those looking to live, work and raise a family here in our district.”
The DD25 Electric compactor sprang from a crowdsourcing project within the Shippensburg compaction engineering team, using scrum methodologies and building on Volvo CE’s electric equipment platform. The machine will be manufactured on the same assembly line as Volvo diesel asphalt and soil compactors. This allows the site to expand production capacity without increasing its footprint or incurring significant costs to retool the factory.
Volvo is investing heavily in training for its employees, providing over 800 total hours of instruction on electric equipment production concepts and processes.
“We have a talented workforce and the perfect space at this location to set ourselves up for ongoing development and production of industry-changing machines,” said Gustavo Casagrandi, head of operations at the Shippensburg plant. “Some of the world’s best engineers and production team members are right here, building the future of construction.”
Volvo also used the occasion to announce that it is expected to receive a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a pilot testing project of the DD25 Electric in southern California.
