Why electrify your off-highway mobile equipment?

Also, electric systems generally require fewer components compared to non-electric ones and need less maintenance thanks to the lack of oil. They also offer a lower cost of ownership, resulting in a fast return of investment for operators.

All these benefits that electric systems bring to the table make the current global shift towards electrification all the more justified.

While the advantages are clear, electrification also brings challenges.

The main concern in the adoption of electric machines is autonomy. Many vehicles must be operational for more than 8 hours straight, which could cause higher needs for battery energy. Battery technology is evolving fast and new solutions are developed year after year, but this problem is forcing manufacturers to spend more resources on designing energy-efficient machinery.

Indeed, electrifying a vehicle requires new skills and a deep analysis of its components. It is not as simple as just replacing existing parts with electric counterparts. To electrify a system in an energy-efficient way, engineers must select optimal e-powertrain components according to the machine’s application, without basing themselves on its current parts. Selecting electrical parts based on the existing system may seem like the easiest approach, but it will often result in having oversized components and inefficient machinery, which will drive down the battery autonomy and raise the price of the machine.

Pricing remains one of the major concerns against the adoption of electrification in many markets. Even if the return on investment for electric vehicles can be higher and more interesting for end users when combined with governmental incentives, the purchase price, sometimes two or threes times higher than for a non-electric vehicle, can be seen as a potential deal breaker. Manufacturers of electric vehicles must find the right balance between efficient machinery that can operate for many hours and affordable machinery.

One of the strategies used by OEMs is to develop hybrid solutions, thus increasing the overall efficiency of their machinery and reducing their oil dependency. While this approach can be a good short-term solution, it also pushes back the problem to later, as it will not permanently solve oil issues. Therefore, the operators will not completely benefit from all the advantages that electric systems bring.

Lastly, for systems that require high tractive force, electrical components cannot deliver the same level of performance as traditional systems. It is notably the case for large excavators in the construction market. For larger vehicles, the challenges are mostly related to motor size. For example, electric motors are bigger than hydraulic motors for the same power requirements. Because of that, in many cases, the design of the system must be updated. While this can seem headache-inducing, it also creates an opportunity to redesign the vehicle by integrating new improvements.

Hydraulic cylinders are another type of component that cannot be replaced without redesigning the vehicle. The offering of linear actuators has greatly improved in terms of speed and capacity, but they cannot replace all types of systems for now. It must be noted that hydraulic actuators can withstand impacts thanks to their relief valves, which is not the case with electric linear actuators. Therefore, an electric vehicle’s design must be adapted to avoid these impacts directly on the actuator.

To sum up, the shift into electrification is inevitable and is starting to intensify. The markets are adapting to this new reality which will bring many benefits for end users and huge new business opportunities for companies willing to electrify their machinery. Challenges remain when it comes to finding the right balance between cost and efficiency to build battery-powered machinery that can perform for many hours on a single charge. OEMs must find optimal solutions to redesign their machines, which takes engineering efforts. Also, traditional systems will still be a viable solution in contexts that require specific performances, especially for heavy machinery where e-components cannot compete against hydraulic systems for the same space claim. Hybrid solutions can be a viable option to make a first step into electrification. OEMs willing to go fully electric must base themselves on their vehicles’ primary use to define the specs they need and select the required e-components accordingly.

At Canimex, our mission is to help manufacturers step into the electrification revolution and provide them with complete and fully integrated e-solutions. As a 360° system integrator, we help overcome all the challenges that electrification can bring by combining our engineering expertise and our premium e-powertrain components. Supplying e-components for off-highway applications for more than 15 years, we partner with innovative OEMs that are leading the charge in electrification by allowing them to build optimized and efficient electric vehicles that revolutionize their market.

Electric systems Pros & Cons