For many in the industry, construction plant and diesel power are inseparable. But we all know that the quest for low-carbon options is leading inexorably towards battery power 鈥� it鈥檚 just a matter of time.
Hybrid machines have been available for many years and, indeed, electric draglines were working in opencast mines many decades ago. But the widespread use of true all-electric battery power in general construction plant has yet to become a reality.听
A significant step forward was taken in 2015 when Czech manufacturer Kovaco developed a completely battery-powered skidsteer, launching it on the domestic market in 2018.
That machine 鈥� the Elise 900 鈥� has now arrived in the UK via agents Paul and Finlay Bassett. The father-and-son team are now networking frantically to help Kovaco establish a network of UK dealers and according to Finlay (the younger Bassett) the biggest challenge is keeping abreast of enquiries.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had a product that has generated as much interest as this,鈥� says Bassett. 鈥淚t really has captured a lot of people鈥檚 imaginations. A lot of companies, obviously, are looking at the green ticket and at the moment we鈥檙e in a unique position as ours is the only [all-electric] one on the market,鈥� he says.
The Elise 900 looks very much like any other skidsteer: it has an operating weight of just over three tonnes and a load capacity of 900kg. A more powerful version, fitted with a larger battery, is also available with a lifting capacity of 1.4 tonnes.
Prague-based Kovaco is not a familiar name in the world of construction equipment. According to Bassett, the company has a background in heavy engineering, 鈥渂ut how the skidsteer came about I鈥檓 not exactly sure 鈥� though I can tell you that it was developed in 2015 and they鈥檝e had five years of telematic data and snagging to make sure they鈥檝e got it right.鈥�
The Bassetts started working with Kovaco in early March 2020 and were all set to roll the product out to the UK market when the Covid-19 lockdown threw a spanner in the works. 鈥淭he owners were due to come over for meetings and I was all set to visit the factory for training when Covid struck,鈥� says Finlay Bassett.听
鈥淪o we decided we had to take this steadily and delayed the launch until the end of July,鈥� he adds.
Nevertheless, a demonstration model had already been shipped to the UK and was being appraised by an equipment dealer in the Midlands who was able to tease interest locally by giving selected clients a sneak preview. 鈥淪o we generated a bit of covert interest in the run up to the launch,鈥� says Bassett.
When news leaked out to the press and stories appeared in a couple of agricultural publications, the response came as a surprise to Bassett: 鈥淧roper journalists don鈥檛 much like putting telephone numbers in their editorial, for good reason,鈥� he observes. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e had people go to great lengths to find me or my father 鈥� and I know those enquiries I鈥檝e taken are serious because of the effort they鈥檝e made to contact us.鈥�
Since the official launch the enquiries have increased enormously, says Bassett, whose background is almost entirely in agricultural machinery.听
Speaking to听Construction听one lunchtime in mid-September, he says: 鈥淚f I tell you that my phone started ringing at a quarter to seven this morning and I鈥檝e been on it solidly ever since, you get an idea of the level of interest.听
鈥淓nquiries are genuinely spread across all of industry. In agriculture, the usual suspects are pig and poultry farmers, dairy men who muck out with skidsteers. I had someone in the marine sector who was very interested in the fact the machine鈥檚 carbon-neutral.
鈥淚鈥檝e been speaking to several dealers who supply into ABP [Associated British Ports] and suchlike and they鈥檙e terribly interested because traditionally you crane a skidsteer into the hold of a ship and sweep it out. And with our machine there鈥檚 no heat, no emissions, no noise,鈥� continues Bassett.
Other potential users, from equestrian centres to power stations have been showing an interest in Kovaco鈥檚 all-electric machine since its launch in July. 鈥淚f you鈥檇 told me in March this year I鈥檇 be speaking to potential customers in power stations I鈥檇 have laughed,鈥� he admits.
Given the apparent level of interest being shown in this machine, it seems odd that nobody bothered to develop an all-electric, battery-powered skidsteer before now. Well, in fact somebody has: seven years ago electric vehicle supplier ePowerTrucks introduced a small walk-behind skidsteer made in the Netherlands by Hanenberg Materieel.
This machine, marketed in the UK as the Sherpa, can lift a load of 110kg to a height of 2.5m and can carry up to 175kg with the loader arm lowered. Attachments include pallet forks, a brick carrier and various types of bucket.
Bassett says he鈥檚 familiar with the Sherpa, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 not what I would call an archetypal skidsteer loader. It is a skidsteer, it is a loader, but it鈥檚 a walk-behind. In fact we do have something similar to that, called the Mini Z, but the Elise is at the other end of the market.
Though it pains him to utter the name of a rival, Bassett explains: 鈥淲hen you say 鈥榮kidsteer鈥� most people think 鈥楤obcat鈥� and that鈥檚 the market we鈥檙e in. The Sherpa鈥檚 not a competitor for the Elise,鈥� he concludes.
Most of the leading manufacturers have been working on battery-powered additions to their product ranges and some 鈥� notably JCB and Wacker Neuson 鈥� have successfully launched battery-powered mini-excavators on the commercial market. But when it comes to skidsteers, Kovaco seems to be leading the charge.
Even more surprising is that, while most recent developments in battery power are focused on compact, powerful lithium-ion technology, Kovaco鈥檚 Elise 900 is powered by a good old-fashioned lead-acid battery 鈥� just like the milk-floats of yore.
Bassett鈥檚 explanation for this is two-fold: firstly, he says 鈥渢he technology around lithium batteries is not quite there yet,鈥� a statement that might raise eyebrows at Tesla, BMW, Nissan听et al. 鈥淚 can offer a lithium battery, but there鈥檚 the extra expense, of course,鈥� he adds.
鈥淟ead-acid is tried and tested. And don鈥檛 forget that in order to lift you need ballast and a lead-acid battery affords that ballast. It鈥檚 also very easy to maintain,鈥� concludes Bassett.
It鈥檚 a logical argument. The weight and bulk of a traditional lead-acid battery just doesn鈥檛 make sense in a road car; but in a small, compact skidsteer loader, which needs plenty of mass and torque, having several hundred kilogrammes of lead on board is a positive advantage.
The Elise 900 can operate for up to eight hours on a single charge and, depending on the local supply, can be fully recharged within six to eight hours 鈥� or, in practical terms, overnight. If eight hours鈥� work seems a bit limiting, Bassett points out that, with an electric machine there鈥檚 no idling: when you鈥檙e not actually working, you鈥檙e not draining the battery. 鈥淎nd to use a machine for eight hours non-stop is highly unlikely,鈥� he adds.
Battery usage can also be optimised thanks to the machine鈥檚 intelligent operating system. Each machine comes with a mobile phone that docks with the dashboard and communicates with the machine via Bluetooth. The Kovaco mobile phone app is simply downloaded from the internet. The phone can be used as a remote controller, but in most cases it will be plugged into the dashboard and the operator will control the machine in the conventional way using two joysticks.
The phone has a battery charge indicator that tells you exactly how much power you鈥檙e using 鈥� 鈥渟o if you engage forward speed on full power, it鈥檒l light up red; disengage it and it goes green. This allows you to tailor your operation to save battery life,鈥� says Bassett.
The Elise 900 has three on-board motors providing tractive force and powering the front loader via a hydraulic pump. Kovaco has produced an array of attachments especially for the machine, some hydraulic but most of them electric. Less energy is consumed when electric motors are used directly, rather than via a hydraulic circuit.
Bassett is keen to stress that he and his father Paul are not importers, nor are they distributors: their task is to act as Kovaco鈥檚 agents to establish a network of dealers in the UK.
The first of these, appointed in late August, is Heming Engineering, a tractor repair specialist located in the Cotswolds. Heming now represents Kovaco in a territory encompassing Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire.听
Heming Group鈥檚 managing director Peter Heming says that the Kovaco machine gives you 鈥渁ll the performance of diesel vehicles without emissions and noise.听
鈥淎s there are only electrical motors in the machine service costs are set to a minimum, while operational cost savings compared to a conventional loader are dramatic and should pay for the machine within the first years of operation,鈥� he adds.
Though brimming with enthusiasm for the product, Bassett is less than voluble when quizzed about prices. He won鈥檛 give a figure, though he concedes that the Elise 900 will cost more than a comparable diesel-powered skidsteer: 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to say; it depends on the dealer, depends on the manufacturer 鈥� depends on the day鈥�. Instead, he prefers to focus on the economies of electric power 鈥� namely reduced maintenance costs and lower running costs. And he points out that some of his potential buyers, such as farms, process plants and power stations, have their own on-site renewable energy plants with which to charge the Elise鈥檚 battery.
Although at the time of writing Kovaco had no sales confirmed in the UK, Bassett says that sales enquiries to date have far exceeded what he had planned for. 鈥淭he level of interest frankly caught me off-guard,鈥� he admits. 鈥淏ut I now have a few dealers lined up and we just have to dot the i鈥檚 and cross the t鈥檚. By the end of the year, we鈥檙e looking to complete the sale of up to 25 machines.
鈥淢y expectations change every day,鈥� admits Bassett. 鈥淏ut I can see no reason why we shouldn鈥檛 soon hold a very large share of the skidsteer market in the UK.鈥�
Although Kovaco claims to have developed the world鈥檚 first battery-powered skidsteer, it鈥檚 only a matter of time before other manufacturers join the fray. In fact, it鈥檚 hard to name any leading producer that isn鈥檛 investing heavily in battery technology:
鈥⑻齌akeuchi听launched its prototype e240 mini-excavator, a battery-powered version of its four-tonne diesel-powered TB240, in 2017.听
鈥⑻齏acker Neuson听launched its all-electric EZ17e and EZ26e mini excavators two years ago. The firm already had battery-powered rammers, wheeled loaders, vibratory compactors and a tracked loader in its product range.
鈥⑻鼿yundai 萝莉原创 Equipment听and engine producer听Cummins听exhibited an electric-powered 3.5-tonne mini excavator prototype powered by Cummins鈥� BM4.4E flexible battery modules at Bauma 2019.
鈥⑻鼸urocomach, part of the Italian Sampierana group, showed its all-electric ES12X (1.2 tonne) mini excavator in concept form at Intermat 2018 in France.
鈥⑻鼵aterpillar听also unveiled a concept compact wheeled loader powered by a fast-charging 41kW lithium-ion battery at Bauma last year.
鈥� Also at Bauma 2019, Komatsu听unveiled a pre-launch electric mini excavator based on the technology used in its hybrid construction equipment and electric forklift trucks.听
鈥⑻鼴obcat听began production of its E10e one-tonne electric micro-excavator at its factory in the Czech Republic in July 2019. The zero-tailswing E10e is built on the same platform and produced on the same production line as the diesel-powered E08 and E10z mini-excavators.听
鈥� In September 2019听JCB听announced that its battery-powered 19C-1E excavator, launched that February, had gone into full production and that more than 50 units had already been delivered to dealers.听
鈥⑻齎olvo 萝莉原创 Equipment听launched a brace of battery-powered machines (a mini excavator and a compact loader) at Bauma 2019. It has committed to replacing its entire range of compact excavators and loaders with all-electric battery models, stopping new diesel engine-based development of these models.
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