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New Holland electric mini excavators
Read time: 3 minutes
Claus Egede Cornelius, program director at Roskilde Technical School Vilvorde, uses electric mini excavators to give Danish landscaping and construction students the skills they will need on future construction sites
We work with the green landscape, it’s a natural part of us and we’ve been on a journey of electric transformation with our machinery ever since it has been possible
Denmark has had legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions since 2020. The country aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 70% by 2030, compared with 1990, and to be climate-neutral by 2050. Its ambitions to be a leader in sustainability involve every strand of society and “go all the way through the school system,” says Claus Egede Cornelius, director of the landscaping, greenkeeping and civil construction programs at Roskilde Technical School Vilvorde.
“We work with the green landscape, it’s a natural part of us and we’ve been on a journey of electric transformation with our machinery ever since it has been possible,” he adds. The school started with small battery-powered equipment and, as technology has advanced, now has two New Holland Construction electric mini excavators, as well as a range of other electric vehicles (EVs).
“Our primary goal is to be a frontrunner in sustainability through the use of electric-powered equipment,” says Cornelius. “We want our students to be able to go into companies and say, ‘yes it worked and it was good.’” Roskilde teaches students from age 17 upwards and on its landscaping courses, the gender balance is 70% men, 30% women, a ratio typical of the industry in Denmark.
Students use the excavators for small landscaping projects and construction. They also use its hydraulic hammer to demolish concrete. There are two main benefits of using the electric mini excavators: they make very little noise and the vehicles can be used inside because they are small enough to fit through doorways and produce no emissions while in use.
Students working indoors with the New Holland Construction electric mini excavator.
The lack of noise from EVs has a benefit both for the people working with the equipment and everyone around them
Reducing environmental impact
Learning to use both EVs and conventional diesel machinery means students are ready to work with either when they finish their studies. While the law doesn’t yet oblige Danish construction and landscaping projects to use electric machinery, their use is increasingly specified, says Cornelius.
“For residents living near construction sites, the noise levels are very high from early in the morning until the evening, so the lack of noise from EVs has a benefit both for the people working with the equipment and everyone around them,” he says.
Charging and battery life
Cornelius admits that before the first mini excavator was delivered by New Holland Construction in 2023, staff at the school were skeptical about how much work the vehicle would be able to do before the battery ran out of charge. However, since using it, he and his colleagues and students have been impressed that there have been no issues with the life of the lithium-ion battery. In fact, they were so impressed that a second New Holland Construction mini excavator was delivered to Roskilde Technical School in the spring of 2024.
Charging the machines is very straightforward as the school can plug the vehicles into the regular plug sockets in its sheds to charge them overnight. Although the vehicles are not used all day at the school, New Holland Construction’s electric mini excavator has been designed to have enough battery power to complete a full day of excavating on a job site.
On the left: the New Holland Construction E15X mini excavator bought by the school. On the right: Roskilde Technical School Vilvorde.
Responsive controls
Having worked as a landscaper before becoming a teacher, Cornelius has used mini excavators and other types of machinery extensively and says that the way the controls are set up is no different. “When I sit in the excavator, I don’t think about it being electric until I turn the key and there is no noise,” he says.
However, he says he finds the electric vehicles are more responsive than conventional diesel machines, because the electric motor delivers power faster to the functions. This is something the students get used to as they work with both types of machinery.
The school is now looking to boost its overall power supply to ensure the capacity to charge more electric machinery as it switches to more EVs in future. Other changes to support more sustainable practices on campus include fitting solar panels on the roof and reusing materials when they build new facilities or remodel existing ones.
“Sustainability is increasing over the longer term — it’s not something that can happen right away, but schools in Denmark are all moving this way,” says Cornelius.
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