Caterpillar introduces first model in new line of hydraulic hybrid excavators

18 October 2012

Caterpillar Inc. unveiled the first model in its new line of hybrid excavators, the Cat 336E H. The 336E H delivers up to 50% greater fuel efficiency— measured in tons per liter—over the 336D. Customers can expect the 336E H to use up to 25% less fuel compared to a standard 336E, and up to 33% less fuel than the 330/336D. The Cat 336E H uses a new hydraulic hybrid technology developed by Caterpillar, on which the company has filed more than 300 patents.

No other commercially available technology has higher power density than hydraulics, and that’s why we selected a hydraulic solution to help our customers achieve substantial fuel savings. The 336E H also meets stringent Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB emission standards. It is extraordinarily quiet, too. So it’s a socially responsible machine for our customers to own, and they will sacrifice nothing in terms of performance, power, force, speed or production. Once more, the owning and operating costs for the 336E H are actually lower than the standard machine.

—Ken Gray, global product manager for large hydraulic excavators for Caterpillar’s Excavation Division

Since the introduction of the 300 Series in 1994, the family of excavators has become the industry standard in a large variety of general, quarry and heavy construction applications. Caterpillar introduced the standard 336E in 2010 as a direct replacement for the 336D. The 336E was introduced primarily to meet Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB emissions standards, and includes several enhancements over its predecessor, including more horsepower with greater fuel efficiency, more lift capability, higher digging force and automatic aftertreatment regeneration.

The 336E H has all of the same advantages of the 336E with the biggest difference between the two models being even greater fuel efficiency. To achieve added fuel savings, the design of the 336E H uses three building block technologies that:

1. Conserve fuel with engine power management via the Cat Electronic Standardized Programmable (ESP) pump, which smoothly transitions between the hydraulic hybrid power sources, engine and accumulator.

2. Optimize performance using restriction management via the patented Cat Adaptive Control System (ACS) valve, which intelligently manages restrictions and flows to seamlessly control machine motion with no loss of power, and to ensure operators experience no difference in control, hydraulic power or lift capability.

3. Reuse energy via the hydraulic hybrid swing system, which captures the excavator’s upper structure swing brake energy in accumulators, and then releases the energy during swing acceleration.

The 336E H will be sold and serviced exclusively through the global Cat dealer network following the machine’s official launch at bauma 2013 in Munich, Germany. The order board for the Cat 336E H opens in Feb. 2013, with factory shipments beginning in March 2013.