The new E-Tech Loadall has the same performance standards as the diesel colleague’s marketing and advertising in playing an important role in any plant’s business, and many are willing to spend large sums to raise the flag and attract potential customers. JCB has never been one to share when it comes to advertising and every year the company invites commercial journalists from all over the world to its headquarters in Rossester, Staffordshire, to reveal this year’s new product developments. The fully paid press corps trip includes a formal dinner, hotel stay and showbiz presentation at the fully equipped, purpose-built JCB theater – followed by an afternoon of live performances at the company’s nearby test yard. This year, however, the Covid-19 restrictions mean the JCB has had to limit its generosity. Scheduled for mid-November (uproar in the middle of the second UK lockdown), the international press camp has been replaced by a one-hour “virtual press conference” conducted online. This article was first published in the December / January 2021 issue of The Construction Index. Register online. Adopting a new technology that could save time, money and many carbon miles was satisfactorily suited to the theme of the event: alternative fuels and The Road to Zero. By “zero,” the JCB of course stands for zero carbon emissions. The press conference served to underscore JCB’s commitment to exploring alternative fuels by launching two new fully electric machines and a global fast charger for the emerging battery-powered E-Tech group. Throughout the event, the message “100% electric; zero emissions” was reached by each speaker. The star of the show was JCB’s first all-electric, battery-powered Loadall telescopic handler, the 525-60E. Direct equivalent to the current 525-60 diesel-powered model, the new version has two electric motors – one for the drivetrain and the other for lift-offs – powered by a 96-volt lithium-ion battery. The 17kW drivetrain delivers axle traction through a permanent all-wheel drive drop box. The second engine, 22 kW, is driven by a hydraulic system via a fixed-displacement gear pump, which delivers up to 80 L / min of flow. The hydraulic system is brand new, and unlike the 525-60 diesel system, the flow is proportional to the joystick position and not the engine or engine speed. The hydraulic system also features “smart regeneration” with energy restored while the boom is lowered and the battery recharged by pulling. Likewise, the traction drive motor uses regenerative braking to fill the battery. According to JCB Chief Innovation and Growth Officer Tim Burnhope, the 525-60E has exactly the same performance characteristics as its diesel predecessor, including a maximum lift capacity of 2,500 kg and an ability to lift 2,000 kg to a maximum height of 6 meters. The new machine provides “a load handling solution with zero emissions with no compromises in productivity performance,” said Bornhop. Cycle times are similar to those of the diesel version, but the new electric model is quieter, he added. Joining the new Loadall is JCB’s first all-electric dump truck, a one-ton high-rim model dedicated to the 1T-E. Touted as the ideal partner for JCB’s 19C-1E electric mini excavator, launched in 2018, it is essentially a battery powered version of the 1T-2 diesel powered model. The new universal charger will charge all E-Tech models in approximately two hours. Power is provided by two 5 kWh lithium-ion batteries through a 7 kWh hydraulic motor. Instead of the 1T-2’s single hydrostatic wheel drives, the electric version uses conventional drive hubs and a drop box to provide full-time all-wheel drive. A second hydraulic pump is used to drive the machine’s standard hydraulic circuit for steering and skip lift. The actuator is protected by a standard ROPS and amber and green LED beacons are fitted to the lap belt to ensure the operator is safely seated while at work. Once again, performance and productivity are “identical” to that of a diesel, both in cruising speed and in reversing cycles. The maximum load is 1,000kg and the maximum load at height is 2,392mm. JCB strives to ensure that all machines in the E-Tech range area are capable of turning a whole business on a single charge. All models in the E-Tech range are equipped with the same onboard charger, which can recharge the battery in eight hours using a standard 240V 16A source. This article was first published in the December / January 2021 issue of The Construction Index. Register online. To further reduce charging times, JCB has launched a new universal fast charger, compatible with all current and future E-Tech models with electrical systems from 48V to 96V. Richard Brooks, engineering director of JCB’s Material Handling and Access Group, said the 525-60E Loadall can be fully charged from zero to 100% in under two hours, and the battery is good for roughly 5,000 charge cycles. The universal charger requires a standard 3-phase 415V electrical supply and comes with four and five-pin connectors to fit all on-site power supplies across Europe. Together with the 19C-1E mini digger, a 500kg garbage cart was launched in September, a small scissor lift, a factory forklift and a power package, the E-Tech group now includes seven machines. Bornhop says there is “more to come” and that customers’ response to the latest developments has been “amazing”. The recruitment sector will be crucial to end-user acceptance, Burnhub notes: “Clients will want to ‘try before they buy’ and this gives rental companies another outlet,” he says. While the focus of the launch has been on electrically powered machines, JCB also confirmed its intention to explore other alternatives to conventional fossil fuels. In July, the company revealed a prototype of a 20-ton excavator, based on the current 220X model, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. “We have to really try alternative fuels, whether it’s clean diesel, electricity, hydrogen or ammonia,” says Bornhop. Hydrogen in particular has great potential in the construction equipment sector, where machines often have to operate in sites without electricity – a problem for battery-powered equipment. “Hydrogen can be delivered to the site in vehicles, just like diesel,” says Bornhop, adding that JCB’s experiments with hydrogen fuel cells were personally driven by Chairman Lord Bamford who is “focused on zero emissions.” After product presentations – which of course JCB can pre-register for convenience – a live question-and-answer session followed, with questions submitted electronically via the smart electronic conferencing software. This had three main benefits. First, far more questions were sent than would have been possible in a real live conference environment where the questions had to be asked separately. Here, everyone can ask as many questions as they like, whenever they want to. Second, it provided the JCB team the luxury of choosing which questions to answer; Obviously, it was impossible for them to address everyone. And third, it avoided the popular trend of a few short-sighteds to dominate questions and answers with vague questions about the machine’s technical specifications. Alternatively, the discussion could focus on more important issues for potential users of the equipment. The conference concluded with a few words from JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald to thank all delegates and provide his assessment of JCB’s prospects for the next year. Despite the chaos of Covid-19, the JCB weathered the storm, he said, and “every market has recovered.” Sales are booming. MacDonald even forecast growth for the next year of between 5% and 8% and noted that many other countries, besides the UK, have been using infrastructure to “rebuild” again. Regarding the “virtual” press conference: MacDonald declared that it was a huge success, with 250 delegates attending – twice the number that would normally have attended in person. So JCB not only saved a great deal of time, money, and a lot of fossil fuel travel by air, rail and road, but also doubled the potential coverage that might accrue from the event. This article was first published in the December / January 2021 issue of The Construction Index. Register online. JCB’s first full size electric dump truck, 1TE touted as the ideal partner for the 19C-1E electric mini digger Got a story? Email [email protected].
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