Pon and Caterpillar together in electric dreams

by Nick Drew | Mon 26 Mar 2018

Pon and Caterpillar together in electric dreams

One of the highlights on the Pon stand at the Maskin Massan machinery show in Stockholm this coming May will be a joint venture between the Norwegian based dealer and the American manufacturer to electrify a 323F hydraulic excavator.

Although looking like a standard 323F externally the machine which bares the codename Z-Line (Z standing for zero emissions) will be electrically powered throughout. On closer inspection one notices that there is no exhaust stack and no air cleaner, that and the fact there is some green livery are the only things that are different to a standard 323F.

It took Pon engineers eleven months to convert the machine, replacing the engine with an electric motor and adding controllers and heavy-duty batteries working closely with Caterpillar. The Li-ion battery is said to be large enough for 5 – 7 hours in operation and charges quickly as there is the possibility of fast charging at a 400 or 1000V power supply. Talking to the highly respected Swedish magazine Maskin Entreprenoren, Pon Project Manager Eivind Hafslund said, “The idea came about when Oslo Municipality (Council) discovered that 30% of vehicle-related emissions came from construction machinery. As a significant player in the market, we have a responsibility for the environment in our metropolitan areas” “Work on developing a machine with reduced environmental impact was initiated in February 2017 and has been supported by the Norwegian authority Enova. Initially it was not self-evident that the excavator would be battery powered”. "We also looked at using fuel cells with hydrogen as fuel. However, it turned out to be too expensive. Instead, the choice fell on lithium-ion batteries. While these batteries are still significantly more expensive than their predecessors, the usual lead acid batteries, but its features are better in several aspects. They weigh less, they are less sensitive to how they are loaded and they have longer life. To accommodate the batteries, the excavator's 6 tonne counterweight of concrete has been picked out and replaced with 2.8 tonnes of batteries and a new counterweight of steel. The new counterweight has also compensated for replacing the 700kg diesel engine with a significantly easier electric motor. "We have chosen an AC power with permanent magnet," says Eivind Hafslund. The power is electronically limited to 120 kilowatt and torque to 750 newton meters.

The machine will, as mentioned previously, make its first public appearance at the Maskin Massan show in Stockholm at the end of May, but the first model has already been purchased by Norwegian company Veidekke who will be taking delivery of it in the autumn. Apparently a further 10 models of the electric machine are being built at Caterpillar’s excavator production facility in Japan. It will be one for me to check out when I attend the show later this year. Credit's must go to Maskin Entreprenoren Magazine and Pon for extracts of information within this post and to my Swedish friend Robert Carlsson for highlighting this story to me.

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