LX1 prototype hybrid wheel loader delivers around 50% fuel efficiency improvement during customer testing

Volvo Construction Equipment’s LX1 prototype electric hybrid wheel loader has excelled during hundreds of hours of real-world testing, achieving around a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to its conventional counterparts.

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) presented field test results for its LX1 prototype electric hybrid wheel loader at a press event in California, US, on July 12th. The company organized the event alongside its customer Waste Management, which carried out the field tests, CALSTART, which conducted emission tests on the machine, and the California Energy Commission, which helped fund the LX1 project. Since the end of last year, the LX1 has performed hundreds of hours of real work in two applications at Waste Management facilities in California.

Testing began at the Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center, a green waste composting site in the northern part of the state. Both fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission tests were conducted at the facility and, although the data is still being analyzed, the results so far show an average improvement of 50% in fuel efficiency, equating to a reduction of 35% in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The second test site was the Moreno Valley Transfer Station, a waste transfer site in southern California. Here, the LX1 achieved an average fuel efficiency improvement of around 45%. Both sets of results exceed the 35% fuel efficiency improvement target set for the project.