On a residential street in the Northeast of Strasbourg, a paving crew from Colas is hard at work. The road is being remodelled to accommodate a two-way bicycle lane, and this is one of the final steps in the scheme.
This road is also a test bed for Ammann’s new electric paver, the eABG4820, which has been in development for around three years now. It officially became part of the Ammann family in July 2024 when Ammann acquired the ABG paving product line from Volvo Construction Equipment and is scheduled to go into production in late 2024.
The electric paver has many similarities with its diesel sister, the ABG 4820, a 2.5m-wide paver that can accommodate a screed length of up to 6.5m. It looks the same, has the same screed, the same user interface – Electric Pavement Management 3 (EPM3) - and the same street-level control panels at either side. However, it weighs in at around 1 tonne heavier.
Internally, there are huge differences: “We took out the diesel engine and whole drive system and added two electric motors to give good and efficient power balancing,” explains Hans-Juergen Vogel, product manager at Ammann. “Also, we have made tweaks to the hydraulic system so that it will work well with the two motors. The machine software, everything that relates to the control of the machine, is also new.”
In developing the eABG4820, engineers were able to deploy some of the tried and tested electronic components developed by Volvo for its other electric construction plant. Volvo Penta will continue to supply these components to Ammann in a partnership deal.
Colas’ paving crew in Strasbourg seem very happy with the machine. Several of them volunteer to talk to camera about how they find working with the electric paver. The crew say that they find the machine easy to use and that the low noise levels make it easier to communicate and create a less stressful work environment.
“Our teams have met no issues using the Ammann electric paver over the few test days on several works sites,” says Tony Masson , regional equipment manager for Colas. “There is no technical difference in use compared to a classical paver, except that the electrical consumption has to be carefully monitored.”
The big question for any electric vehicle is how long it will last without the need for recharging. Amman says that the eABG4820 will run for between six and nine hours, depending on how it is being used. It can be charged overnight at a contractor’s depot using an AC electricity supply or a DC supply – such as a power unit - could charge the 210 kW-hour capacity battery in around 1.5 hours.
“Just like switching to electric cars, transitioning projects from fossil fuels to electric power does require a change of mindset,” says Judith Ronden, global strategic account manager in Ammann’s roads division. “Sometimes it will require more preplanning or a different approach to logistics.”
Vogel cites a paving job in Sweden, conducted at very low temperatures. The paver worked for 10 hours, in two five-hour stretches with a two-hour break to charge – while the crew took a lunch break - using a power unit onsite.
For Colas in Strasbourg, paving on two consecutive days in Strasbourg, there were logistical considerations. “The challenge is the need to transport the charged paver in the early morning from the works depot to the worksite for use and transporting it back to the agency at the end of the day in order to charge its batteries overnight as we opted not to have a powerbank on the worksite,” says Masson.
Masson also mentions the need to consider the energy requirements for heating up the paver’s screed. “The user should pay particular attention to the heating duration of the paving screed - which maintains the required temperature of the hot-mix paving before application - as the energy autonomy of the paver is limited by the batteries.”
There are benefits to heating the screed electrically, says Michael Neujahr, regional sales manager for Ammann. He points out that diesel pavers have to be turned on – producing noise and diesel fumes – for an hour or so before paving begins to bring the screed up to temperature.
With the electric paver, the screed is silently heated from the battery – but that takes energy away from the paving process. Ammann may develop a separate battery pack for its electric paver which would serve the screed and conserve energy in the main battery for running the paver, says Vogel.
There is quite a lot of stopping and starting for the paver on the Strasbourg project, due to some issues with the flow of asphalt deliveries. When the crew stops for a late lunch, there is still 48% of charge on the battery left.
Trials such as this one, conducted over the past 12 months, have helped Ammann to fine-tune the design of the paver. Most of the changes so far have been related to the charging arrangements, says Vogel. For instance, contractors have suggested charging points on both sides of the machine rather than just one.
“We don’t know yet whether construction companies will want to take care of the energy supply themselves or whether they expect it to come from the OEM,” says Vogel. “We're trying to find out from trials how they want to handle this. It needs to fit in with their operations.”
Future developments are likely to include the provision of more information on battery performance, says Vogel. “Customers are asking for more features and information about charging which could perhaps be delivered by an app. This is something that will come in the future.”
In the meantime, Ammann will be hoping to make its first sales of the eABG4820 at bauma in April 2025. The electric machines will be considerably more expensive than their diesel counterparts; Ammann won’t say yet how much more expensive.
With sales secured, production can theoretically begin. “We need to understand how we can integrate this machine into our production in Hameln (Germany),” says Vogel. “Fifty to 60 percent of the machine is standard but the whole electric system with the traction and batteries is new. We will have to see how big the demand is before we look at modifying the production line.”
As well as providing valuable data for Ammann’s development team, projects like this one in Strasbourg help because they boost confidence for the users, says Vogele: “We have found that after we carry out these trials with our customers, there is more interest, because we can show them that it works.”
Cycle lanes for Strasbourg
Strasbourg is a particularly appropriate location for Colas to be trialling Ammann’s new electric paver, the eABG4820. The city is headed up by a green mayor, Jeanne Barseghian of Les Écologistes party, whose goals when she was elected in 2020 included the exclusion of diesel vehicles from the city centre and the creation of new cycle paths.
The remodelling of the 320m-long Rue Mélanie in Strasbourg, where Colas is paving, will create a two-way cycle path on the road, which leads to the Parc de Pourtalès, providing a missing link in a major cycling route. The road is being divided into two halves: one for cyclists, one for motorists, with small concrete islands dividing the two.
Rue Mélanie is a residential road, so using electric equipment which is far quieter than its diesel equivalents, and which does not produce harmful fumes, is particularly beneficial here. “For cities that have low emission zones, using electric plant on job-sites really helps,” says Judith Ronden, global strategic account manager in Ammann’s roads division. “Being able to offer that is opening up new opportunities for our customers.”
Colas is using the eABG4820 paver to lay asphalt over a 3m-wide lane, at a depth of around 250mm. The asphalt is BBSG 2 0/10 (Béton Bitumineux Semi Grenu), a standard hot-mix asphalt containing 40% recycled asphalt.
Alongside the electric paver, the team is working with a 2.5tonne electric Ammann roller, the eARX 26-2, which is preseries and launched at bauma. “This is a fully electric roller, without any hydraulic components,” says Hans-Juergen Vogel, product manager at Ammann. Vogel. Electric motors power both the main drive and the vibratory circuits.
Going Green in Europe
The Ammann eABG4820 paver at work in Strasbourg is one of two prototypes which are being put through their paces on various projects around Europe. As well as trial projects in France with Colas, the prototype machines have been tested by several other contractors in the Nordics and the Netherlands with planned projects in Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The impetus for transitioning away from diesel fuelled plant to electric ones comes from global, national and company commitments to reduce carbon emissions – in a bid to slow the rate of global warming.
“The main driver for our customers is to cut their carbon footprint,” says Judith Ronden, global strategic account manager in Ammann’s roads division. “Because this is still a prototype, our customers are taking a risk by carrying out these projects, but they are willing to do that because it is an important innovation.”
Clearly, the carbon savings achieved by switching from diesel to electricity depend on the way that electricity is generated in the country where the equipment is being operated. France, for instance, generates 92% of its electricity through nuclear, wind and solar power.
Most European countries are working hard to increase the proportion of ‘green’ energy they produce. The European Union (EU), under its Renewable Energy Directive, has set a renewable energy target of 42.5% - up from a previously set goal of 32%.
Some paving contractors have set their own, ambitious carbon reduction targets. For example, Colas aims to reduce its direct carbon emissions by 46.5% by 2030, compared to 2020. It is also looking to cut the carbon emissions of its entire value chain – which accounts for 85% of the group’s total emissions – by 30% over the same timeframe.
As well as switching to electrically powered vehicles and plant or lower carbon fuels such as hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), Colas is also adopting lower carbon materials and technologies. These include switching from hot mix to warm mix or cold mix, using biobinders to replace a proportion of the bitumen in an asphalt mix and the use of recycled asphalt planings (RAP) and in-situ recycling.
Colas is also working to reduce carbon emissions by making processes and technologies more energy efficient. And it is trying to promote more sustainable behaviour by providing information and training to its employees.
Working with companies such as Ammann to help develop a new generation of electric paving equipment, and to establish new ways of working to get the best from greener technology, clearly fit well with Colas’ carbon reduction strategies.
