I tested a 55,000-pound electric excavator. New ways to power off-road machines, which mostly run on diesel, could cut about 3 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.
I tested a 55,000-pound electric excavator. New ways to power off-road machines, which mostly run on diesel, could cut about 3 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.
I see what you’re saying, but it wasn’t too long ago a similar sentiment was said of motorized construction and farm equipment.
Ultimately, if each piece of equipment had a viable electric alternative that would operate all day without needing a charge, it wouldn’t take that smart of a bean counter to realize there were a lot of savings to be had if they started projects with an electrical charging area for the new equipment that could potentially be repurposed for customer or resident charging once the job was done.
It would become an anticipated start-up cost, similar to the transport of the equipment itself, delivery of materials, set up of portable offices and toilets and the like. Obviously this would be out of reach for a small operation, but a company that’s building out row houses or shopping centres I could see making the switch.