Association of Equipment Manufacturers says battery-powered construction, material handling equipment gaining market share.
The Milwaukee-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) says that when it comes to alternative-powered construction equipment, “There’s little doubt that electric-powered compact machines have gained the most traction.”
An article on the topic prepared by AEM follows.
“The 48-volt battery packs and the duty cycles of compact machines are well matched,” says Ray Gallant, vice president of product management and productivity at Volvo Construction Equipment, which has five electric models either in production or announced for the North American market.
“From a technological standpoint, electric-powered compact equipment was one of the easiest to go after,” says Chris Lucas, product manager for excavators, JCB North America, which debuted its 19C-IE electric compact excavator in 2019.
“Considering compact equipment can be operated with a smaller battery size at lower voltage, we plan to make a shift to battery-type excavators for 10-metric-ton and below,” says Thomas Jaejin Lee, director of product management at Doosan Infracore North America.
The rise of electric power
The use of electric power in construction machines is not new. Electric-powered machines have had a long run in the mining, demolition, aerial lift and industrial forklift segments. But now they’re making their way onto general jobsites.
Electric construction machines were a trade show curiosity as little as six years ago. Now, compact equipment manufacturers expect to be questioned on whether they are working on an electric model.
Much of the electric model work has centered on the compact excavator, with manufacturers using either internal design capabilities or partnering with companies such as Green Machine, Moog Construction and WhisperDrive to create an electric version of a current diesel unit.
Most current electric models are electric/hydraulic, in which a lithium-ion battery replaces the diesel engine and powers an electric motor and conventional hydraulics.
But an intriguing alternative is now also on the market: Doosan Bobcat’s T7X compact track loader not only replaces the engine with an electric battery and motor, but it also eliminates the hydraulics, instead using an electrical drive system consisting of electric cylinders and drive motors. The company partnered with Green Machine Equipment and Moog Construction in creating the T7X.
Doosan Bobcat started experimenting with electric-powered machines about five years ago, says Joel Honeyman, vice president of global innovation. “We wanted to take some new technologies from other industries and do some unique things with the platform,” he comments.
“With an all-electric system, it’s power on demand, only using the energy you need for the task at hand,” says Dave Grabau, key account manager, Moog Construction, a Doosan Bobcat partner on the T7X. “You’re not running at wide open throttle or dumping hydraulic fluid over a relief valve and wasting that energy. The powertrain is not limited by emissions tiers, such as 55 kW (74 horsepower). Now you can get more work done in a 5-to-6-ton machine that has a usable power range of 100 to 150 horsepower,” adds Grabau.
Currently in production, the first T7Xs are being added to fleets at Sunbelt Rentals locations.
Charging infrastructure still in progress
That brings us to the question of how best to charge electric machines. If the goal is zero emissions, it makes no sense to charge your electric machine with a diesel generator.
“We’re really paying attention to the charging infrastructure,” says Gallant. “How do we get the power out to the jobsites and how do the jobsites have to evolve?”
After developing its electric compact excavator, JCB came out with a universal fast charger, designed to charge the company’s fleet of E-Tech machines. “We always try to make sure we include multiple charging options,” says Rebecca Yates, senior product manager for material handling at JCB North America.
To be effective, temporary electric job site power must be deployed rapidly without permitting or site prep requirements, maintains Desmond Wheatley, CEO of Beam Global. His company’s solution is a solar-powered, off-grid charger, the EV ARC 2020, which it showcased in the Volvo CE booth at last year’s Utility Expo.
Electric charging requires a thinking reset, Wheatley says. While fast chargers seem attractive, their use is driven by the experience at the fuel pump. “If a machine has access to a charger during idle times, you can just top it off like you do with your cell phone,” he says. “You just charge it whenever you’re not using it and not wait until it’s empty.”
Aiding this approach will be the advent of wireless job site charging, says Wheatley. With the addition of a ruggedized receiver to the bottom of a machine, instead of being plugged up it could charge while parked over a charging pad. “The wiring is already basically in place, you’ve just got to extend it to the underside of the vehicle,” he comments.
Whatever their eventual form, electric charging systems will likely be primarily rental items, Wheatley says.
While there are contractors who are natural early adopters, most are concerned with practicalities, particularly when it comes to the three big barriers to electric machines: initial cost, run time per charge and charging time.
Primarily because of the present cost of batteries, electric machines typically cost two to three times that of a comparable diesel machine.
JCB, however, did a return-on-investment (ROI) study that showed a 50 percent ROI within three to five years, Lucas said. “There are no maintenance costs with electric machines,” he added. “All you’re doing is charging the machine and filling up the hydraulic fluids.”
Electric machine prices will come down as increasing volume supports driving down component costs, Honeyman says. “On the flip side, the operating cost of the T7X is one-tenth of that of a comparable diesel-hydraulic machine,” he says.
Most OEMs are now citing a range of four-to-eight-hour run time for “average” use on compact equipment and an eight-hour overnight charge.
Customers naturally compare run times on a fully charged electric machine with a full tank on diesel units, but that doesn’t show the whole picture, say our experts.
“An electric machine behaves differently than a diesel machine,” according to Honeyman. “When you let off the joysticks of an electric machine, there’s no idle. An operator can get a day or more of productive work out of it because they’re typically not running the machine eight continuous hours a day.”
Adds Honeyman, “In comparison, the telematics data on our diesel machines tells us that significant time is spent with the machine simply idling.”
“Widespread adoption of electric equipment starts when it becomes economically viable,” says Gallant. “But everyone seems to be willing to see where it develops, and that’s encouraging.”
Construction can be a “fast follower” to the EV advances made in the automotive sector, Grabau says. In the meantime, Moog uses high efficiency servo motors and electric cylinders to give the best run time and lowest battery cost.
“While we’re going to produce diesel equipment for a long time, there are customers and applications that really want this new EV technology,” Honeyman says.
AEM is a North America-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers with more than 1,000 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide.
The Irving, Texas, company has acquired JEV Recycling Inc., a Woodinville, Washington, concrete and asphalt recycler.
Lehigh Hanson Inc. has announced the acquisition of JEV Recycling Inc., a recycler of concrete and asphalt with a large facility in Woodinville, Washington.
With the addition of the JEV business, Lehigh Hanson, Irving, Texas, continues to strengthen its portfolio of recycled materials in the greater Seattle area to better meet the increasing need for more sustainable construction materials.
Lehigh Hanson is a part of Heidelberg Materials, which the firm says is among the world’s largest integrated manufacturers of building materials and solutions with leading market positions in cement, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete
“The acquisition of JEV Recycling represents an important step for Lehigh Hanson as we grow our business beyond cement and aggregates while working to lower our environmental footprint,” says Chris Ward, president and CEO of Lehigh Hanson and a member of the managing board of Heidelberg Materials. “It also highlights the importance of finding innovative ways to serve the growing needs of our customers for responsibly sourced and circular products so they can meet the sustainability targets of their projects.”
Lehigh Hanson also recently added a new concrete recycling plant to its Cadman Inc. operations in Redmond, Washington. The new facility processes concrete rubble into recycled concrete aggregates. The product will be marketed under the brand name Revolve and will be used in ready-mixed concrete and as base material.
“We are pleased by the progress we are making to grow our recycling businesses in the Pacific Northwest,” says Oliver Patsch, president of Lehigh Hanson’s Canada region. “Our new recycling plant in Redmond is a great opportunity to showcase our Revolve line of recycled aggregate products and increase the availability of sustainable and circular solutions in this growing market.”
Maverick Environmental Equipment will carry Rayco Forestry Mulchers in Ohio.
Morbark LLC has announced that Maverick Environmental Equipment is the new, exclusive dealer of Rayco Forestry Mulchers in Ohio. Maverick, which has branches in Newbury and Bremen, Ohio, also is an authorized dealer for Morbark’s industrial and recycling equipment product lines, which include horizontal and tub grinders, whole tree drum and disc chippers, and flails.
Maverick, based in Winn, Michigan, began operations in 2016 when equipment industry veterans Tim Smith and Charlie Stahl joined forces to build their own company. The company describes itself as focusing on providing machinery-based solutions for environmental applications, including aggregate processing, recycling, forestry and biomass.
“We are dedicated to bringing our customers the highest quality products,” Maverick Managing Partner Tim Smith says. “This means partnering with top-tier manufacturers, like Rayco and Morbark, whose products work hard and take on the toughest materials.”
Director of Rayco Forestry Sales John Balogh says, “We are excited for Maverick to represent our forestry mulcher line in Ohio. We definitely know what Maverick provides, and having them on board will ensure that our Ohio customers experience minimum downtime and maximum productivity. They simply know how to get things done and put the customer first.”
Morbark, an Alamo Group Inc. company, describes itself as a leading manufacturer of tree care, forestry, and wood recycling equipment that reaches customers through a worldwide authorized dealer network.
The Kernersville, North Carolina, transportation company says in-cab alerts and video footage have been winning features of the SaaS company’s driver safety solutions.
Netradyne, a San Diego-based software as a service (SaaS) leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing focusing on driver and fleet safety, has announced that its customer, Best Logistics Group, has decreased its claims and improved its driver safety program during the past year since choosing Netradyne’s AI vision-based Driver•i safety camera platform.
Kernersville, North Carolina-based Best Logistics Group selected Netradyne’s Driver•i system for its fleet of 400 trucks for the proactive nature of the solution: real-time alerts, actionable data for improved safety and transparency for drivers.
Netradyne says it offers solutions specifically for the waste collection and construction industries in addition to those for trucking and logistics.
Audible in-cab alerts, including for drowsy and distracted driving, enable drivers to self-coach and make corrections in real-time, resulting in fewer incidents.
“When we turned on the audible alerts, we saw a decrease in events across the board,” Best Logistics Director of Safety and Training Programs Adam Beaver says. “The impact was huge.”
Driver•i’s GreenZone driver score and related DriverStar highlight good driving, helping Best Logistics’ managers connect with their drivers in a way that empowers, incentivizes and engages them.
“I knew we had good drivers, but having these positive moments pulled into a separate category and being able to show that data to them is the number one thing I use for successful driver coaching,” Beaver says. “It makes coaching easier. Our drivers have received it well and continue to try to improve. It’s about making them want to be better drivers, which aligns with our company goals.”
Another benefit Best Logistics has realized from the camera system and high-definition video clarity is the ability to defend their drivers effectively, says Beaver.
“In one recent hit-and-run incident, our driver called me as soon as it happened, and I was able to show the video of the incident to the driver. I froze the video, identified the at-fault driver’s license plate, and sent it to our driver to present to the police officer on the scene. That was a slam dunk. Now we can defend our drivers with a high degree of success.”
Heather Engen, vice president of customer success at Netradyne, says Best Logistics treats its employees with “respect, trust, fairness and loyalty.
“We are proud to partner with Best Logistics Group to provide technology that elevates the safety and protection of their drivers and assets and helps them uphold their company code of conduct.”
Parts of Mississippi River network unable to support loaded barge traffic; one shipper declares force majeure.
What the Hellenic Shipping News service calls an “unusually low water level in the lower Mississippi River” is grinding barge traffic to a halt, affecting ferrous scrap shippers and steel mills among other customers.
The news service reported Oct. 7 that the low water level is “causing barges to get stuck in mud and sand, disrupting river travel for shippers, recreational boaters and even passengers on a cruise line.”
The conditions mirror those experienced during the summer by barge shippers in Europe, where the Rhine River network experienced similarly low water levels after a prolonged drought.
Along the Mississippi River, there have been record low levels of rain in parts of the watershed, and according to the U.S. Coast Guard, it has responded to at least eight ship grounding incidents in early October. Hellenic Shipping News says the groundings are occurring even though barges are operating with “low-water restrictions on barge loads.”
Any supply pinches caused by the Rhine River woes were not enough to revive ferrous scrap pricing in Europe or globally. Early October metals pricing service reports indicate mills in the U.S. have thus far not perceived a supply issue, with initial October bids made below September pricing, as domestic steel output remains muted.
A trade association board member quoted by Hellenic Shipping News says barge shippers might have difficulty finding alternatives. “Can they divert to rail?,” asks Lucy Fletcher of the Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals association. She replies to her own question by saying “Well, there’s not an abundance of rail availability. And, usually, people are booking their transportation for fall early in the season. So, if they haven’t booked that freight already, you’re going to see people in dire straits.”
Some shippers could have no alternative but to seek rail and trucking, however, with the Davis Index metals news service reporting Nashville, Tennessee-based Ingram Marine Group has declared force majeure in its barge business unit.
The River Conditions page of Ingram’s website points to low water conditions on the Ohio River and along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Ingram writes that the “Harvey Lock is closed to marine traffic due to risk from reverse head conditions as a result of low water.” Numerous dredging operations also have closed sections of rivers.