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As the auto industry worldwide moves to a sustainable, electrified future, a similar movement can be seen in off highway vehicle segment. As of Aug 2020, there are 156 electrified models available for sales across construction, agricultural and material handing segment as compared to less than 50, five years ago.
In compact excavator segment, the push towards electrification is higher due to ecological aspects as these machines primarily operate in urban environment.
In terms of operating cost, a battery powered earthmover is lower than that of a diesel-powered machine
In Europe, especially in city centres there has been an increasing trend of banning high emission vehicles and subsequently there has been growing demand for zero emission, low noise machines. Examples include indoor demolition and basement projects, urban/city centre developments, night-time work and construction in hospitals, schools etc
The further development of electric vehicle battery and charging solutions has further aided the development of electric excavator market.
In Bauma 2016, Bobcat showcased the prototype of the E10e, which generated tremendous interest and traction from prospects.
Feb 2019– Bobcat launched new E10e, 1 tonne, zero tail swing (ZTS) mini-excavator based on the very successful diesel powered E10 ZTS mini-excavator for indoor applications such as demolition and basement construction. The biggest advantage of this excavator is that when charged with a 400V supercharger it can operate throughout a full working day and can be recharged to 80% of the capacity in under 2 hours
April 2019– Hyundai, unveiled HX10A, powered by a Yanmar diesel engine but can also be bought with an HPU electro hydraulic unit.
July 2018- France based Mecalac started producing a wheeled electric excavator, the e12, which has an operational range of eight hours and 146kW per hour of power. The powertrain is supplied by Dana.
In 2020, post COVID, Europe is expected to be the fastest growing market for electric vehicles and it is no different in case of electric excavators. Bobcat is already producing E10e at Dobris, Czech Republic to take advantage of this.
Higher battery cost and untested battery performance in extreme working conditions will further decide the growth if this market.
The global Electric excavator market is estimated at $XX Million in 2022, growing at –% CAGR till 2030.
The conventional excavator market has always been consolidated and it is no different in case of electric excavators. However, OEMs are following different strategies and setting different milestones to achieve higher electrification.
Volvo Construction equipment has already announced that the company would not produce diesel powered compact excavators or wheeled loaders in the future.
Hyundai is working with Cummins on a 100% electric-powered excavator –believes that by offering a plug-in system with no charging required it can appeal to larger chunk of fleet operators
Germany based Wacker Neuson is one of the prominent manufacturers of electric equipment but does not believe that in the medium term all products will be electric.
China-based LiuGong utilises most of the diesel excavator’s hydraulic system allowing a reduced R&D timeline.
(Ending September 2021)