by Nick Drew | Wed 05 Jun 2019
Electric Dreams and more with JCB
Today the Digger Man Blog is making yet another pilgrimage to the JCB facility in Rocester, Staffordshire, as the British manufacturer rolls out more new products to an international gathering of the press. Among some of the items I will be getting “hands on” with will be the new electric mini excavator, JCB’s first all-electric digger.
This 1.9 tonne mini excavator can be charged by simply plugging it into a standard 230-volt domestic electricity supply. Once fully charged, it is ready to put in a full normal working day on the building site – digging with the same speed and power as its diesel counterpart. Super-fast charging will also be available, slashing the charging time in half.
The machine – known as the 19C-1 E-Tec - will not only deliver zero emissions, it will also be the quietest in the JCB range. This means contractors can work after normal hours in urban streets, around hospitals and close to schools without disturbing people. The machine also has a retractable undercarriage to enable it to negotiate tight spaces.
The electric excavator has an electric motor and three advanced lithium-ion battery packs, to deliver a full energy capacity of 15kWh.
The machine was recently shown by JCB at the ARA (American Rental Association) show in Anaheim and as we see in this video, Rent 1 Equipment were there to capture an interview with JCB product specialist Nick White.
Signal permitting, we will endeavour to post up to date developments news from the press event via our usual social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter , LinkedIn, and You Tube. JCB always have a few surprises up their sleeve, so lookout for updates.
We would like to thank Rent 1 Equipment Rentals for the use of their video in this blog post.