Stage Set for Hybrid Construction Equipment to Go Mainstream
Electrification is a predominant trend in the construction equipment industry. The corresponding introduction of software allows machines to gain efficiency.
“With electrification, we can do more with the software,” says Scott Young, director of electromobility, Volvo Construction Equipment. “We can tailor for the customers’ application, site or environment so the machine is purpose built for what they are doing. We are starting to see electrification of subsystems in the machines starting to come onto the market.” This allows decoupling of systems, so that systems such as the hydraulics will not be dependent on engine speed.
Future use cases of electrified machines will depend on the application. “We see segments where you have fully electric machines, machines connected to the grid and hybrid machines,” Young comments.
Hybrids offer many opportunities. “As we hybridize, we can downsize engines and recuperate energy, leading to fuel savings and reduced emissions,” Young points out.
Hybrid construction equipment technology currently entering the market is predominately diesel/electric. “Technically, the word hybrid means two sources of energy,” says John Chesterman, product marketing manager – production class four-wheel-drive loaders, John Deere. “The key is we can recover energy.”
Drivers Behind Adoption
Research on hybrid construction equipment began in the late 1990s and became commercially available in 2003 when Hitachi launched a wheel loader that utilized a series hybrid powertrain. Since then, many OEMs have launched various hybrid technologies that range from series and parallel diesel/electric hybrids to plug-in hybrids and hydraulic hybrids, and even flywheels.
To date, the adoption rate in the U.S. has been fairly slow. It is very dependent upon segment, application and the legislation and regulation. It is advancing more rapidly in Europe and in other parts of the world because certain cities are targeting low-emissions zones or setting future goals of zero emissions.
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