All-electric Bobcat compact track loader

[ruffdog]

"....up to 4 hours of continuous use..."

Bobcat T7X claimed to be world's first electric compact track loader

 

[WranglerX]

Do they supply a tow behind diesel generator for battery charging?

 

[crashz]

Obviously not for everyone, but nice in areas where you are working in large buildings. I've done a few projects where we need big skidsteers and mini excavators with some weight indoors. And in occupied buildings. Nice not to have the fumes.

But ball-screw actuators? My knowledge is limited and dated, but aren't they incredibly weak and wear quickly? B the spec sheet, the rig is very strong, but I can see regular replacement of those actuators.

 

[trueg50]

Obviously not for everyone, but nice in areas where you are working in large buildings. I've done a few projects where we need big skidsteers and mini excavators with some weight indoors. And in occupied buildings. Nice not to have the fumes.

But ball-screw actuators? My knowledge is limited and dated, but aren't they incredibly weak and wear quickly? B the spec sheet, the rig is very strong, but I can see regular replacement of those actuators.

Agreed.

Obviously not for everyone, there could be a use for them, say in buildings, or areas where sparks/engines are not allowed or are restricted.

 

[Hall00]

There was a thread about electric construction equipment a while back where the electric backhoes sat next to a diesel generator all night to charge.

Brilliant...

All the "green/EV" market does is move the ICE and exhaust upstrea.

Sunbelt must be making a shitload of money, to be going down this rabbit hole.

A shitload of taxpayer money via subsidies surely

 

[WranglerX]

Awhile back VOLVO announced a small all electric excavator on facebook....

Our electromobility journey | Volvo Construction Equipment Global

The world depends on our ability to contribute to growth while reducing our climate footprint. Our electric solutions hold the key to maintaining high productivity with zero emissions.

www.volvoce.com

ECR25 Electric | Electric Machines | Overview

The Volvo ECR25 Electric excavator is a true game changer. The first in a new range of electric compact excavators, it takes a proven concept – and then adds battery electric power, so you’ll have all the performance you need, in the compact package you demand. Volvo CE is moving towards a...

www.volvoce.com

 

[ruffdog]

A shitload of taxpayer money via subsidies surely

....and that has been happening with fossil fuels for the past 100 years. What's new?

https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fa...-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs

 

[ruffdog]

I'm thinking the option of remote control would be easily adapted to this electric model.

 

[Vigo327]

The most interesting thing to me about this is the choice of electric actuators over hydraulic cylinders for the loader portion. Hydraulics have the great advantage of being able to resist a lot more force than they can put out, i.e. once you release the controls the hydraulics can 'hold' absurd forces, which is great because we bash the machines into things (especially skid steers) a lot harder than we push and pull on things with hydraulics. Speaking in terms of 'shock loads', anyway. With an electric actuator any impact forces are actually going through the 'geartain' or transmission of the actuator. This is part of why ALL loaders and 3 pt hitches aren't already electric actuators. So either the issue is not as important as i thought or (more likely?) the bobcat uses such large and heavily built electric actuators that they are probably $3-5k EACH. Might STILL be cheaper than replacing every inch of the hydraulics in skid steer's loader system, but not really a compelling option until the rest of the hydraulic system to support the cylinders is just no longer there.

Meanwhile, i have a 50hp (capable) electric motor/controller/charger setup from an old electric car i parted out that was made by a failed EV startup in the early 90s. I also have a small skid steer with a shitty engine. I've recently been thinking about trying to combine the two. But that would be just hooking an electric motor up to the existing tandem hydraulic pumps.

 

[ruffdog]

Electric drive motors and ball screws have been used on CNC equipment since the 80's so the bugs should be ironed out by now.