A
year ago when
iC
last looked at the excavator sector in detail,
I wrote here how the demands of lower running costs were
changing theway constructionmachines arebeingdesigned.This
ismost evident in crawler excavators, whichmake up by far the biggest
slice of the earthmoving equipment market in value terms.
The long-trusted combination of a diesel engine and high-pressure
hydraulics, which has been at the heart of excavator design for decades,
continues to see refinement. This year that has been due to new
emissions laws in Europe, Japan and the US, which have see more
pollution control components added to the exhaust stacks. This of
course is on top of the electronic management systems, telematics and
in-cabmonitors that have crept into the sector over the last decadeor so.
The diesel engine and hydraulic pump remain at the heart of things,
but there is an increasing move towards hybrid machines. And for an
industry that tends to embrace change slowly, the progress here feels
quick.
Since last year Komatsu has launched the third generation of the 20
tonne class hybrid excavator it first unveiled in 2008. Hitachi is also
getting more serious in this area, with the European launch of its first
hybridmachine – again a 20 tonne excavator – at the start of the year.
And now another key Japanese manufacturer, Sumitomo, has joined
the partywith another 20 tonne class hybridwhichwas unveiled to the
world at the end of last year.
Fuel efficiency claims for thesemachines start around the 15%mark,
and can go higher than 30% less diesel burnt compared to a traditional
excavator. It is hard to quantify exactly, because the figure depends on
the application. Hitachi, Komatsu and Sumitomo have all designed
machines that collect waste energy from the braking of the upper
structure’s slewingmotion, so themore rotation for the excavator in the
job at hand, the greater the savingwill be.
The question then of course, is how long does it take for these savings
in running costs to pay for the higher purchase price of the hybrid
machine?
Caterpillar says it was this question which informed its decision to
go with an all hydraulic ‘hybrid’. Pedants would say if there is only
the one power system, it is not a hybrid, but Caterpillar’s definition of
the word is that a hybrid is any system that captures waste energy. The
company’s approach of using accumulators on its first hybrid excavator
– a36 tonne classmodel launched two years or so ago–has been carried
over to the new generation of F-seriesmachines. Cat says this system is
simpler and cheaper than an electric hybrid, while still delivering 30%
fuel savings.
But whether the hybrid is hydraulic or electrical, the wider point
is that these types of machine seem to be gaining in popularity. The
entrant of anewplayer in the formof Sumitomounderlines this, as does
Komatsu and Caterpillar’s commitment to develop new generations of
hybrids.
Acceptance of these machines is still pretty low – a fraction of a
percent of the excavators sold around theworld this yearwill be hybrids
– but as time goes on, there will be greater regional availability, other
size classes will be developed, the technology will get cheaper and
more companies will enter the sector.
It looks like a long-term trend for the future.
Chris Sleight
Editor
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COMMENT
3
june 2014
international
construction
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