Chief Editor Jordanne Waldschmidt weighs in on the state of electric construction equipment and where the industry’s attention would be better served in the near term: hybrids. The opinions stated are those of the author and don’t necessarily reflect the views of Equipment World or its parent company, Randall Reilly.
Over the past few years, major construction equipment manufacturers have gone on a spree of snapping up battery technology manufacturers or heavily investing in those businesses.
Cat invested in Lithos Energy. Deere bought Kriesel Electric. Volvo CE nabbed Proterra. Komatsu scooped up American Battery Systems. And Yanmar acquired a majority share of ELEO Technologies, to name a few.
It’s a logical move in the transition to green energy, allowing the OEMs greater control of their own destiny in a lithium battery market that has struggled to keep up with demand.
But despite the noble goal of reducing carbon emissions, it’s a complicated and misguided state of affairs – primarily driven by political overreach and appeasement of corporate investors.
To better predict the near-term future of electric equipment in the construction market, let’s examine some recent happenings in the automotive industry.
On December 1, the Biden Administration announced a crackdown on automotive manufacturers using battery materials from countries considered “hostile to the U.S.,” including companies owned by, controlled by, or based in China, Russia, North Korea or Iran.
