ELECTRIC JCBS
ABOVE: The electric JCB
19C-1E is perfect for use in
enclosed, indoor spaces
giving us a clean sheet of paper,”
says Womersley. Between 2010 and
2016 JCB worked obsessively to
improve the fuel e ciency by as
much as 50% in some machines,
which positioned them well
to switch to electric. “We’ve pushed
and pushed to achieve classleading
fuel e ciency with many
products, which gives us a great
foundation.” Electri cation was also
informed by learnings from the
automotive sector.
“In the car world, they’ve o en
added considerable mass to an
existing product,” says
Burnhope. “ ey’ve
removed the powertrain
then potentially added
700kg in batteries to an
original 1,300kg car,
which seems an odd
thing to do. To use
batteries, you should
be minimising energy
demand by minimising
the machine’s moved
mass.” Womersley’s team
therefore worked tirelessly to
deliver a machine within a few
kilograms of its diesel predecessor.
38 iVTInternational.com November 2019
“It’s not rocket science,” Womersley
says. “It’s diligent attention to
engineering detail, asking: ‘Do we
need this? Can we reposition that to
work as counterweight?’ We’ve got
cutting-edge batteries with excellent
energy density. We tested the hell
out of them – hot-climate, coldclimate,
working with diggers in
enormous freezers – and haven’t
failed one battery pack yet!”
Redefi ning the landscape
With John Deere developing
autonomous tractor swarms and
Volvo looking to replace lumbering
quarry haulers with nimbler,
cabless units, electri cation
promises to rede ne current
machine architectures.
“ ere’s a lot of crazy thinking,”
says Burnhope. “We’ve studied the
world of ants, which is the world’s
most e cient job site. Ants have
become super-e cient by using lots
of smaller units together on a
continuous basis. In agriculture,
smaller, robotic machines which can
run for 24 hours on batteries, or
have interchangeable batteries,
might work better than powering
fewer, very large tractors. In the
future, the question may be whether
we want many autonomous, ant-like
electric mini-excavators working
together, or massive machines
powered by cables or enormous
battery packs.”
But existing designs embody
decades’ worth of engineering
capital and are not to be lightly
abandoned in favour of new,
unproven forms.
“We’re very conscious that we’re
supplying work tools which have to
be a commercial success,” says
Burnhope. “Apart from the power
source, we wanted to keep
85% The battery life
remaining in the JCB
19C-1E even after 2,000
charging cycles
JCB 19C1E
JCB’s fi rst electric mini-excavator,
the 1.9-tonne 19C-1E, provides all the
performance of its 19C-1 diesel counterpart
with fi ve times less noise and zero
emissions at point of use. A standard three
lithium-ion batteries provide 15kWh
storage, supporting up to four hours of
untethered operation, while a four-battery
option offers fi ve-hour autonomy in
industrial applications. 110V and 230V
chargers provide eight- and 12-hour
charge-times respectively, with two-hour
fast-charge available. 85% of battery life
remains even after 2,000 charge-cycles,
says JCB. The 19C-1E employs a 48V
electrical system and an effi cient electric
motor delivers instant torque, powering
Bosch Rexroth load-sensing hydraulics.
Three operating modes run the motor at
1,200rpm, 1,600rpm or 1,800rpm and a
fourth allows it to track quickly between
digging locations.
/iVTInternational.com
