by Nick Drew | Tue 29 Nov 2022
Electric Atmosphere with Hitachi at Bauma
Making another return to the Hitachi stand at Bauma, this time with a look at some of the electric models that the company displayed on the stand.
As we reported previously Hitachi Construction Machinery Europe (HCME) were celebrating their 50th birthday during the Bauma trade fair, and that long journey was celebrated with the display of a fully restored UH04 hydraulic excavator as featured here on the Digger Man Blog.
However, Hitachi brought us right up to date by showcasing four new zero-emissions (at point of use) electric powered machines.
The four machines comprised of the ZX23U-6EB, ZX55U-6EB, ZX85US-6EB and the largest model the ZX135-7EB all of which can be powered by lithium-ion batteries or a cable connection.
The mid-range ZX55U has been developed by Hitachi in Japan, but the other three machines are the result of a joint venture development programme with KTEG in Germany, with a focus on the European market. Hitachi expect the machines to be available sometime in the middle of 2023.
The push for electric powered machines was clearly evident during Bauma. Norway is one country that is really leading the way in embracing electric powered zero-emissions construction equipment and that looks set to continue across other parts of Europe over the coming years.
For the smaller machines we can see this being successful but for larger models we still think hydrogen will be the way forward. It will be interesting to see where all this new technology goes in the future.
From what we saw on the Hitachi stand, its clear that they along with their partners are embracing electric power.
Let’s take a look around the Hitachi Construction Machinery Europe stand in the video below.