Dive summary:
- Caterpillar has a diesel-hydraulic hybrid excavator that will give customers payback on premium in a third of the time or less than it takes a diesel-electric machine to save enough in fuel costs to cover the extra expense.
- Both systems are about saving energy by storing power that otherwise would be lost, and both focus on swinging the machine sideways, which Cat says consumes 70% of an excavator's generated energy.
- Storing energy in a hydraulic system uses a well-understood technology, Cat's Ken Gray, global product manager, says, and replacing hydraulics when it's time is a fraction of the cost of replacing electric components.
From the article:
"It's really simple technology," Gray said. "That's why this works." ...
