Electric rethink earns Volvo CE Red Dot award for L120 loader

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has revealed that its L120 Electric wheeled loader has won a Red Dot Product Design award. Image: Volvo CE

The Red Dot is one of the world’s largest and most respected design competitions and recognises outstanding achievements in product and industrial design.

The machine’s modern look was the result of a year of work by technology and design teams from Jinan in China, and Eskilstuna and Gothenburg in Sweden.

“I’m happy we won this award but I’m especially happy that we won it for this machine,” said Peter Reuterberg, senior chief advanced designer for Volvo CE.

“The change from diesel to electric gave us the opportunity to think differently and strive for big impact. Our hope is that this new silhouette will be instantly recognisable as electric.”

The streamlined frame of the electric loader is made possible because of the removal of a combustion engine. The result is a transformation from a boxy’ rear end common to diesel machines into a sleeker shape for the new era of electric.

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If designers replaced the combustion engine with larger-in-size batteries, this would have not only created a ‘bulkier’ shape but would have also reduced visibility from the cab. Instead, engineers and designers worked together and agreed to integrate the batteries into the counterweight of the machine.

The heavy weight of a battery is often seen as a problem in electric machine design, but in this case, the battery is being used to replace a concrete counterweight required for wheel loaders.