Volvo now sells a 500 kWh battery box for construction and… festivals?

Volvo Construction Equipment, a sister brand of Volvo Trucks, has started selling the improved PU500, a 500 kWh mobile charging unit for electric construction sites without grid access. The giant battery bank can also be used for festivals, disaster sites, or as a buffer battery to profit from off-peak energy prices.

While battery banks with full-size power plugs are becoming more popular with camping enthusiasts, Volvo’s latest offering might be slightly overkill for the average consumer.

The Volvo PU500 is also a battery bank, but it is half the size of a 20-foot shipping container, weighs 7.6 tons, and has enough juice to fully charge a high-end electric car—five times in a row.

500 kWh and a 240 kW fast-charging port

Indeed, to supply its range of electric construction vehicles with enough juice at remote sites without grid access, Volvo has packed a huge 540 kWh (500 kWh net capacity) nickel-manganese-aluminium battery into the PU500. It takes up to 86 kW AC, which means it needs at least five hours to charge fully, but the output is much more flexible.

The PU500 has four separate outlets, the most notable of which is a 240 kW CCS2 port for fast-charging electric vehicles. This differentiates it from diesel generators and even other battery systems, with a huge potential benefit in uptime for electric construction vehicles. But it would also be ideal for electric cars in remote desert locations, for example, especially in tandem with a solar array.

Cost optimization thanks to app connectivity

You can also connect the PU500 energy storage system to the grid to profit from lower off-grid prices, thanks to smart connectivity and monitoring functions through the Volvo CareTrack and My Equipment Apps.

Other potential uses for the mobile energy storage system include disaster relief, especially as natural disasters and extreme weather events become more commonplace due to climate change; festivals and other outdoor events; and even film productions where the lack of noise compared to diesel generators might be a benefit.

The Volvo PU500 mobile charging unit is available now. Pricing is available on demand, but these are often rented rather than purchased by the end consumer.