All-electric Bobcat compact track loader

[Hall00]

....and that has been happening with fossil fuels for the past 100 years. What's new?

https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fa...-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs

Huh, I missed the part where I said oil and gas didn't have that.

 

[mikester]

"....up to 4 hours of continuous use..."

Bobcat T7X claimed to be world's first electric compact track loader

And 20 hours charge time? Sign me up! NOT....

 

[ddbackhoe]

Electric drive motors and ball screws have been used on CNC equipment since the 80's so the bugs should be ironed out by now.

Have anyone seen any real specs posted for this loader?

 

[rScotty]

4 hours of run time and integrates cutting edge software…. And since it doesnt have traditional hydraulics, none of your old attachments will be compatible. Yay

Good point. I guess a popular attachment will be an electric over hydraulic pump & reservoir. That way old attachments can be run. For a while.
Still, I'm glad to see a decent all-electric construction loader or tractor from a major company. I've been wondering what one would look like and how it will work. Now there is a chance to find out. I see they have an excavator too. Hope they follow up with a compact tractor.
rScotty

 

[BigBlue1]

4 hours of run time and integrates cutting edge software…. And since it doesnt have traditional hydraulics, none of your old attachments will be compatible. Yay

That's a good point. Any attachment that relies on a normal Bobcat's hydraulics is out of the question. That takes out a pretty large number of them. I suppose they can eventually offer some attachments with their own electric actuators (such as a grapple) but things like a tiller or brush hog would be hard to convert. The electric motors and power required to drive those would be heavy, expensive and take a HUGE chuck of the vehicle's battery system to operate.

I'll never understand why there is such a huge push to go away from traditional internal combustion products that work so well.

 

[ruffdog]

Very good points brought out. My tiller, grapple, mower, and blower would not function unless there is an electric/hydraulic system. Is this SS really meant for special purposes like in very dusty conditions where there is a chance of explosion (mines and grain mills)? Maybe for a indoor factory maintenance crew to use? I'm just seeing a very limited customer base for these. It is still interesting.

 

[Jchonline]

Road vehicles are getting batteries almost twice this size.
I wonder what it costs?
Lastly, 4 hours then a recharge...they didnt talk about recharge time that I saw. Even so you could work, recharge during lunch on a Level 3 charger, then finish the day. Only need that level 3 charger at a new construction site....easy peasy lol

Oh I forgot to mention a L3 charger costs about $45k, not including installation costs to run 480V power.

 

[Jchonline]

I'll never understand why there is such a huge push to go away from traditional internal combustion products that work so well.

Simple.

New revenue streams for businesses. You need to think no further than this. Bobcat isnt in it to save the planet...they want to be a leader in this new market segment.

I do believe there is a place for electric construction equipment...it is just mostly indoors.

 

[ruffdog]

Road vehicles are getting batteries almost twice this size.
I wonder what it costs?
Lastly, 4 hours then a recharge...they didnt talk about recharge time that I saw. Even so you could work, recharge during lunch on a Level 3 charger, then finish the day. Only need that level 3 charger at a new construction site....easy peasy lol

Oh I forgot to mention a L3 charger costs about $45k, not including installation costs to run 480V power.

Yep, in factory settings, fork trucks, scooters, flatbeds, maintenance vehicles, are all electric. The fork trucks have batteries that get swapped but everything else gets plugged in. If the plug it in when not in use, it stays charged up.

 

[bsekf]

I think we need to look at diesel electric, like a locomotive. I can see electric in a smaller, <100 hp tractors. However, at this point, the price would be prohibitive. How about a gasoline engine to reduce the cost?

And, speaking of price. The enviro green group don't care about the price, they'll never buy one. The price of a new tractor is already in the stratosphere. Only a moron would buy a $100K electric car to replace a comparative $50K gasoline car and tractors will be worse. I just don't believe there will be a "used" market for electric vehicles.

Back to the skid steer, from an engineering stand point, I can see replacing the diesel motor with electric..... but replacing the hyd. with electric motors makes no sense.

The only people who are buying electric vehicles are the green inviro morons or those with more money than brains.

 

[Fixastuff]

Road vehicles are getting batteries almost twice this size.
I wonder what it costs?
Lastly, 4 hours then a recharge...they didnt talk about recharge time that I saw. Even so you could work, recharge during lunch on a Level 3 charger, then finish the day. Only need that level 3 charger at a new construction site....easy peasy lol

Oh I forgot to mention a L3 charger costs about $45k, not including installation costs to run 480V power.

I think Bobcats thinking is that in some/many construction sites a machine spends more time sitting that actually being run each day. Obviously this isn't the case always but it often is on multiman-mutimachine crews.

 

[newbury]

All the "green/EV" market does is move the ICE and exhaust upstrea.



A ****load of taxpayer money via subsidies surely

And when you move the pollution to a central point it's easier to clean up.

 

[Vigo327]

Electric drive motors and ball screws have been used on CNC equipment since the 80's so the bugs should be ironed out by now.

I mean, if still needing to 3-4x the size and 10-30x the cost of a comparable hydraulic cylinder are bugs than i would say they have not really been figured out yet. It would be much simpler to use a large electric actuator for something like a dump truck/trailer and even there it is not compelling. A skid steer's loader undergoes a lot of very high dynamic forces and you have to 'overbuild' the actuator for the loads it will actually exert outward, just to have it deal with the forces it will have to absorb or transfer inward. It's doable, but there are obvious reasons why noone does it.

 

[RidgeHiker]

This is how change happens. Something new is put out there, the public is unsure or suspicious in the beginning (and sometimes rightly so), over time problems get worked out, improvements are made (in this case batteries evolving, etc.), and eventually they become the norm.

The electric compact track loader is clearly not realistic for everyone but will be a solution for some. It also gives Bobcat a lead in getting into the electric market even if there are only limited sales in the beginning. Interested in sitting back and watching how this all evolves.

 

[neilkingent]

interesting the same way watching a train wreck is interesting. Here's the way I see it playing out. The government mandates electric equipment. Where Sunbelt leased one skid steer, two will have to be rented plus one large generator. The cost of construction goes up. Bobcat sells 2 skid steers instead of one. There are plus sides to this but overall, there is not.

 

[neilkingent]

the only way for this to be a good thing is for electricity to become cheaper and more reliable. As is our power grid is hanging on by a thread

 

[neilkingent]

The push for "renewable " electricity has increased cost and decreased reliability.

 

[Hall00]

And when you move the pollution to a central point it's easier to clean up.

Not in the least bit. It makes the energy source more expensive and adds more regulations and layers of ******** bureaucracy that do nothing but slow down progress and make things worse.

 

[Citydude]

The video showing the loader working dried, powdered horse crap was impressive. Lol

 

[Vigo327]

The push for "renewable " electricity has increased cost and decreased reliability.

I mean, renewables are a solution, not the problem. The problem is that the old ways suck. I grew up in the shadow of a coal plant and, having seen a suspicious number of the family's pets die of aggressive breast cancers when I've never even heard of anyone else having TWO cases in the same household, Im just waiting for the other shoe to drop on the humans over here. Luckily both my parents have survived cancers so far.

The only reason renewables have so many issues right now is because they didn't get worked through 20+ years ago. In other words, we are LATE.