Eurovia Surfacing is the first UK contractor to use an electric asphalt paver during an overnight highway operation in Essex.
The firm trialled the use of the kit – called Dynapac SD25 80C – on the A128 Tilbury Road in Brentwood.
The trial, carried out with vehicle dealer SMT GB, evaluated the machine’s endurance, performance and compatibility with an established highway surfacing operation. The paver installed more than 240 tonnes of asphalt without requiring additional charging – the operation was completed with 57% battery capacity remaining.
Powered by a 294kWh battery, the SD25 80C e delivers up to 235kW through five electric motors. It can operate for up to 10 hours on a single charge and can lay more than 1,000 tonnes of asphalt during a shift.
Eurovia Surfacing managing director Paul Goosey said the trial was an important step in assessing electric plant compared to diesel as the firm evaluates its future fleet-investment decisions.
He said: “Our environmental roadmap sets out ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions, increase operational efficiency and accelerate the adoption of more sustainable technologies across our business.
“The findings from this trial will help shape our future investment strategy and provide valuable insight into how electric plant can work alongside warm-mix asphalt, higher recycled-content materials and other lower-carbon construction techniques.”
How do you charge it up because if you use a diesel generator the whole exercise is pointless as you may as well used a diesel paver in the first place and if you have to transport it off site to charge that’s more transport costs and even more diesel used as trucks don’t do many MPG 5or6
Hi Richard. You can either AC or DC charge using a common type 2 connector. This machine will do a full shift so can be charged between shifts, ideally using the most efficient charging method to get the best return both financially and environmentally. Many jobs, especially those with live lane closures, require transport off site anyway or alternatively there are many mobile electric charging solutions available. A diesel generator wouldn’t be the ideal solution but there will be a range of charging solutions needed to suit different areas, sites, applications. A diesel generator would, however, still be more efficient than a diesel paver, due to the fact that charging would be done with static rather than variable load on a diesel engine.