A thermal management system developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with John Deere promises to increase the power density of silicon carbide (SiC) inverters within heavy-duty EV applications significantly. Recent studies indicate that the improved inverter design delivers a 378% increase in power density over the... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Caterpillar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Caterpillar’s development of zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks for use at one of Rio Tinto’s Western Australian mining operations. The collaboration will see Rio Tinto work with Caterpillar to advance the development of the manufacturer’s future 220-tonne 793 zero-emissions... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Flanders Electric have agreed to develop a retrofit concept for hybridizing mining trucks that can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30%. It integrates mtu engines, batteries and hybrid control systems, and Flanders drive train solutions. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding enabling them to... Read more →

The novel Common Pressure Rail Hybrid system by Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) applied to excavators, which results in significant improvements in energy-efficiency, has received the Volvo Technology Award 2021. The Volvo CE team from Sweden and South Korea has worked closely with Finnish company Norrhydro in the research project, leveraging... Read more →

Tritium, a global developer and manufacturer of DC fast chargers for EVs, and Miller Technology, a supplier of mobile mining equipment for safety and productivity, are partnering to provide fast chargers and light-duty battery EVs for the mining industry. The companies’ inaugural project at the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) mine... Read more →

Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, a provider of fuel cell power solutions for motive applications, is teaming with DD DANNAR, LLC (DANNAR) on an integration project to develop hydrogen fuel cell power solutions to markets in need of clean power options that may include municipalities, fleets, military applications, agriculture and mining.... Read more →

Rolls-Royce Power Systems has outlined its road map for climate neutrality: Net Zero@Power Systems. By 2030, the Rolls-Royce business unit is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35% compared to its 2019 level through the use of new net zero and zero carbon technologies. This near-term target plays a significant... Read more →

Hyzon Motors Inc., a global supplier of hydrogen fuel cell-powered heavy vehicles, signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Sojitz Machinery Corporation of America (SMA) to partner in penetrating new markets and exploring the development of new fuel cell-powered commercial mobility applications. This comes ahead of Hyzon’s proposed business combination with... Read more →

Moscow-based startup Green Scout is developing a 6-wheel electric amphibious all-terrain vehicle (ATV). Development of the all-terrain vehicle began in 2017; an experimental prototype was manufactured in winter 2019, and a presentation model was demonstrated in summer 2020. The ATV is 1.8m wide, with a height of 1.2m; ground clearance... Read more →

Robotic Research, LLC, a leading developer of Automated Driving Systems (ADS), and FPInnovations, a Canadian private non-profit research and development center, are collaborating to develop an off-road truck platooning system for the forest industry. This project will combine Robotic Research’s self-driving technology with FPInnovations’ knowledge in forestry and transportation to... Read more →

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Mitsui E&S Machinery, Ltd. will begin a joint study to introduce hydrogen-fueled port cargo handling machines. As part of this agreement, MOL’s group company Shosen Koun Co., Ltd. has signed a contract for a new near zero emission (NZE) rubber-tired gantry (RTG) container yard... Read more →

The Volvo Group has created the new business area Volvo Energy to strengthen the Volvo Group’s business flow of batteries over the life cycle as well as the customer offer for charging infrastructure. Volvo Energy will be a business area with full profit and loss responsibility. It will have both... Read more →

Proterra, a leading innovator in commercial vehicle electrification technology, and Komatsu, a global leader in construction equipment, are partnering to leverage Proterra’s battery technology for the development of Komatsu’s first battery-electric middle class hydraulic excavator. The collaboration represents Proterra’s entry into the off-road vehicle market and the company’s first Proterra... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board announced that the first installment of $35 million in VW Environmental Mitigation Trust funding for Zero-Emission Freight and Marine Projects throughout California is now available via a competitive solicitation. A second solicitation offering an additional $35 million is expected to be released in mid-2022. The... Read more →

Volta Power Systems has partnered with Stellar Industries to provide lithium-ion power systems that reduce idling from fleet utility and work trucks. The auxiliary system stores enough energy to provide all-day power to operate hydraulics, power tools, and multiphase worksite power without idling. Available as an accessory to replace a... Read more →

RISE Robotics, a leader in high-performance and cost-effective electric linear actuation solutions, raised $3 million in additional funding. The funding round was led by The Engine, the venture firm spun out of MIT that invests in early-stage Tough Tech companies. Linear actuators create the push-and-pull movements in the mechanisms of... Read more →

Advanced battery management and intelligence systems provider ION Energy has entered into a strategic partnership with European battery pack manufacturer Wamtechnik to facilitate the deployment of a prototype electric excavator for a leading European construction equipment maker. Wamtechnik undertakes the design and production of dedicated rechargeable and non-rechargeable battery packs... Read more →

DEUTZ presented its latest developments in the field of sustainable off-highway drive systems at CONEXPO in Las Vegas. (The show, originally scheduled to run from 10-14 March, closed one day early as concern over the COVID-19 outbreak began to mount). DEUTZ combines diesel, gas, hybrid, electric and hydrogen technologies to... Read more →

European battery manufacturer Northvolt has delivered its largest order of lithium-ion battery systems to date to mining and infrastructure industries supplier Epiroc. Epiroc Boltec M Battery rock bolting rig, right side view. Source: Epiroc. Northvolt has partnered with Epiroc for more than two years and has developed a platform of... Read more →

UPS has begun testing the suitability and durability of Gaussin electric vehicles, which also have autonomous driving capability, to move semi-trailers and containers on the grounds of UPS’ advanced-technology London Hub. During the initial phase of the test, UPS will operate the electric vehicles (Trailer and Swap Body Mover, TSBM)—known... Read more →

CASE Construction Equipment introduced “Project Zeus”: the 580 EV, the construction industry’s first fully electric backhoe loader. The power and performance of the 580 EV is equivalent to other diesel-powered backhoes in the CASE product line and provides considerably lower daily operating costs while also producing zero emissions—a motivating factor... Read more →

Power management company Eaton has expanded its portfolio of valvetrain solutions for diesel off-highway vehicles to help OEMs reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. Eaton’s new technology allows for cost-effective, variable valve actuation with hydraulic lash adjustment (HLA) function. This technology enables precise valve lift control through HLA, coupled with... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board will launch its Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) at the Port of San Diego on 31 January. The new $44-million voucher project is designed to accelerate deployment of zero-emission off-road freight equipment used at goods-movement hubs, including ports, distribution centers, airports, and rail... Read more →

Volvo Trucks, having recently started sales of electric trucks for urban transport, believes that electrification can become a competitive alternative also for heavier trucks. To explore and demonstrate the possibilities, Volvo Trucks has developed electric concept trucks for construction operations and regional distribution. We see great potential for heavy-duty electric... Read more →

Ideanomics’ Mobile Energy Group (MEG) is expanding its activities with heavy-duty electric trucks as part of an ongoing effort to identify commercial vehicle activities where significant pollution reduction can be achieved by eliminating fossil fuels. In addition to the environmental considerations, heavy-duty electric trucks offer additional benefits such as reduced... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board launched a new $40-million program designed to accelerate the purchase and use of zero-emission off-road freight technologies. The “Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project” (CORE) will feature a streamlined voucher process for buyers to receive funding that will offset the higher costs of clean, zero-emission... Read more →

BMZ Holding GmbH, a European manufacturer of lithium-ion battery systems, will join forces with KION GROUP AG, a global provider of intralogistics solutions, to form a joint venture under the name of KION Battery Systems GmbH. This joint venture will manufacture lithium-ion batteries for industrial trucks in the EMEA region.... Read more →

The US Department of Energy announced $50 million for new and innovative research of technologies for trucks, off-road vehicles, and the fuels that power them. Funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), these selections highlight the DOE’s priorities in gaseous fuels research, including natural gas,... Read more →

Plug Power Inc. and Charlatte America, a member of the Fayat Group, the leading manufacturer of battery powered electric airport ground support equipment (GSE) throughout Europe and the United States, have delivered fuel cell-powered electric cargo tuggers for use by FedEx at the Albany International Airport. The ground support vehicles... Read more →

In an industry-first move, Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has announced that in 2020 it will start the launch of an electric range of Volvo-branded compact wheel loaders and compact excavators. By mid-2020, Volvo CE will begin to launch a range of electric compact excavators (EC15 to EC27) and wheel... Read more →

DEUTZ AG and Manitou Group—a world leading OEM in rough-terrain handling equipment—are partnering on the electrification of the drive line. DEUTZ has incorporated prototype electric drives into Manitou equipment for the first time. Manitou Group, the first E-DEUTZ partner, has fitted one of its telehandlers with a hybrid drive and... Read more →

Dana Incorporated has been collaborating with Mecalac to develop a customized e-Drivetrain system for the new Mecalac e12 electric compact wheeled excavator, introduced earlier this year at Intermat in Paris. With the proven Mecalac 12MTX as a base frame, this version is the first compact wheeled excavator powered entirely by... Read more →

At Agritechnica in Hanover, the world’s leading trade fair for agricultural machinery and equipment, Continental is presenting exhaust aftertreatment solutions for agricultural and construction machinery. Continental’s solutions are designed to conform to the upcoming EU Stage V emissions standards, which from 2019 will set stricter emissions limits for non-road mobile... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $3 million of new funding (DE-FOA-0001815) for fluid-power systems research for off-road vehicles. Construction, mining, and agriculture equipment represent the majority of fuel consumption in off-road vehicles, and this equipment relies heavily on fluid-power systems (i.e. hydraulics) to actuate most... Read more →

With funding provided by the California Energy Commission, Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) demonstrated its LX1 prototype mid-sized (20 ton) hybrid-electric wheel loader (earlier post), a piece of equipment widely used in the construction, refuse, and agricultural industries, that achieved a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency. The LX1 is a... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced that California Climate Investments in zero-emission vehicles have reached $599 million since 2013, putting hundreds of thousands of ultra-clean cars, and entire fleets of zero-emission trucks and buses on California roads and highways. ARB made the announcement at the annual Advanced Clean Transportation... Read more →

Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) presented the HX2 autonomous, battery-electric, load carrier at CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2017. The second-generation concept machine is part of an electric site research project that aims to transform the quarry and aggregates industry, reducing carbon emissions by up to 95% and total cost of ownership by up to... Read more →

A team from the University of Vaasa (Finland) and UPM-Kymmene Corporation has examined how the blends of fossil and renewable diesel produced from crude tall oil (CTO) affect the performance and exhaust emissions of the modern common-rail off-road diesel engine. The study, published in the journal Fuel, used four different... Read more →

The California Energy Commission will award up to $4 million (GFO-16-501) to projects to to support the research and development of heavy-duty off-road vehicles powered by conventional or renewable natural gas. Projects should incorporate advanced low emission engine technology currently available for heavy-duty on-road vehicles. Existing advanced natural gas engine... Read more →

Researchers in the HRL Laboratories Sensors and Materials Laboratory have developed an active variable stiffness vibration isolator capable of 100x stiffness changes and millisecond actuation times, independent of the static load. According to Principal Investigator Christopher Churchill, “This performance surpasses existing mechanisms by at least 20 times in either speed... Read more →

Dana Holding Corporation is now offering its Spicer PowerBoost hydraulic-hybrid system for field testing by off-highway original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Dana engineers have conducted extensive field tests of the Spicer PowerBoost system integrated with a dual-motor hydrostatic transmission in a series configuration. These functional evaluations include more than 1,000 hours on... Read more →

Adrian Narvaez of Hawaii Hydrogen Carriers (HHC) observes a metal hydride storage tank, part of a project led by Sandia National Laboratories. (Photo by Dino Vournas) Click to enlarge. Sandia National Laboratories and Hawaii Hydrogen Carriers (HHC) are partnering to design a solid-state metal-hydride hydrogen storage system for forklifts; the... Read more →

Oerlikon Fairfield will unveil its new patent-pending off-highway hybrid electric drivetrain technology at the upcoming ConExpo-Con/Agg trade show from March 4-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The drivetrain technology utilizes a Tier 3 or Tier 4 engine driving a 227kW switch reluctance generator with step-up gearing to produce electrical... Read more →

Summary of comparison of NOx emissions and fuel consumption of hybrid (D7E) and conventional (D6) dozers. Negative values mean hybrid benefit and positive values mean dis-benefit. PM, THC, and CO emission rates were very low for both the D7E and D6T and thus were not able to be quantified as... Read more →

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new valveless hydraulic steering system for heaving construction equipment that improves efficiency and reduces fuel consumption. The new approach eliminates valves now needed to direct the flow of hydraulic fluid in steering systems and uses advanced algorithms and models to control hydraulic pumps... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) issued a grant solicitation for demonstration projects on zero-emission off-road equipment. ARB expects that up to $1 million will be available for this solicitation, although funding could be increased to a maximum of $5 million depending on the availability of state funds. The potential... Read more →

Westport Innovations Inc. has signed agreements with Caterpillar Inc. to co-develop natural gas technology for off-road equipment, including mining trucks and locomotives. Caterpillar and Westport will combine technologies and expertise, including Westport High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) technology and Caterpillar’s off-road engine and machine product technology, to develop the natural... Read more →

Combustion engine driving the input shaft of the HVT. The upper hydrostatic and lower mechanical path can be seen inside the HVT, which transmit power separately or in combination. The power is combined on the output side in a summation gear train and made available to the drive shaft. Click... Read more →

The NH2 hydrogen fuel cell tractor. Click to enlarge. New Holland previewed the farm-ready version of the hydrogen fuel cell NH2 tractor (earlier post) at the Agritechnica international agricultural machinery show in Hannover in November. Derived from the New Holland T6.140 production model, the new tractor will operate all the... Read more →

Profi 4135 Natural Power. Click to enlarge. Steyr has introduced the first production tractor powered by natural gas. The new Steyr Profi 4135 Natural Power is equipped with a turbocharged mono-fuel CNG engine, made by Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT), another Fiat group company. (Steyr is part of CNH Global N.V.,... Read more →