Oasis Nomad: An Electric Construction Vehicle Support Solution

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is one of the world’s leading manufacturer of construction machines and is determined to define the future of the construction industry. One major way they plan to do this is to fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement by committing to net-zero emissions by 2050 [1]. To achieve this, Volvo Group is aiming for a 100% fossil-fuel-free-enabled product lineup by 2040 [2]. As of 2022, Volvo Construction Equipment offers five electric construction vehicles (ECVs), the largest range in the industry (Figure 1.1). However, because these vehicles are still in their infancy, there remains a major challenge surrounding their operation. As this fleet is charged via the grid, these ECVs prove inconvenient to operate when working in areas with little to no infrastructure to support their charging such as in remote, off-grid construction sites.
Our team of ME 310 students from Stanford University, USA, and Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, was tasked with supporting the adoption of ECVs in areas with broken or nonexistent energy infrastructure. Our proposed solution is an ECV support system that provides a remote construction site with temporary energy infrastructure: Oasis, a renewable energy generator, and Nomad, a mobile charging station (Figure 1.2).