Switzerland's Ammann has turned one of its mainstream diesel asphalt pavers into an electric machine, the eABG 4820, using a powertrain supplied by Volvo Penta. The company says it is one of the largest electric pavers on the market, with a maximum output of 1,200 tonnes of asphalt per day when a charging stop is included.
Without intermediate charging, the paver lays between 350 and 450 tonnes of asphalt, and its peak hourly rate is 500 tonnes. Volvo Penta supplies the batteries, motors, power electronics and control technology, while Ammann assembled the system using its experience with hydraulic-powered machinery.
Paving width and where it makes sense
The eABG 4820 uses a 99-kilowatt electric motor fed by a 270-kilowatt-hour battery pack split into three separate units. The cells are nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide (NCA) traction batteries, and Ammann says the pack holds enough energy for an entire work shift.
Charging is possible through a CCS2 connector at up to 150 kW, which refills the pack in roughly one and a half hours, or through AC charging at up to 22 kW, which takes 12 hours. The proprietary ABG e+ screed heat system draws on an external power supply rather than the traction battery.
Philipp Bramer, who heads Ammann's e-paver development team, framed the engineering challenge around energy management rather than the motor alone. "It comes down to energy management and architecture," he said. "The electric driveline doesn't just power the machine. It communicates seamlessly with the hydraulics. Simultaneously, the intelligent control system makes sure that the system supplies exactly the right amount of energy to the machine."
The catch for contractors
The machine can pave at widths of up to 21.3 feet, or 6.5 metres, which covers most common paving scenarios. Ammann positions it for job sites where emissions and noise are sensitive, since the electric driveline is significantly quieter than a diesel rig.
Ammann also claims the paver emits up to 70 percent less carbon dioxide than a diesel equivalent. That figure is a manufacturer claim rather than an independently measured result.
The quieter operation is the practical selling point. Diesel pavers are loud enough that a paving crew and nearby residents notice them, and an electric machine changes the working environment on residential streets and in dense urban areas where paving often happens alongside occupied buildings. Fewer moving parts in an electric driveline also removes many of the maintenance tasks tied to a diesel engine, along with their costs.
Electrification shifts work to the depot. Construction companies need charging equipment installed where machines are parked overnight, and they need a way to top up on the jobsite if a shift runs long. The 1,200-tonne daily figure depends on that mid-shift charging stop, so the headline number and the 350 to 450 tonne figure without charging describe two different working days.
Ammann has not announced pricing for the eABG 4820, and the sources do not specify which markets it will be sold in or when deliveries begin.
