Recently, the foreign media Equipment World launched a series of reports on Future Fuels, aiming to discuss the evolution of diesel fuel alternatives that construction equipment and manufacturers around the world are experiencing, including hybrid power, battery power, fuel cell, and hydrogen internal combustion engine and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The following is the eighth report in a series.
With the increasing demand for reducing exhaust emissions from underground mining, ventilation costs and low-noise construction machinery in residential areas, it is expected that the battery and hybrid construction equipment market will create growth opportunities. At present, there is a high demand for construction equipment all over the world. However, the pure electric trend of equipment is limited to compact construction equipment, including compact excavators and micro excavators and loaders. After all, the power output required by the available battery technology is limited, which leads to higher demand for electrification in some working conditions. For example, mining dump trucks and other equipment can only be operated under hybrid power at present, and some contractors hope that these equipment can achieve automation.
Charging infrastructure and battery life are not a problem
In some regions with stricter emission regulations in Europe, North America and South America, the preference of contractors for electric compact equipment is more obvious. These areas have high requirements on equipment performance, noise and emission. Obviously, electric equipment has certain advantages in these areas. Non road equipment in agricultural, mining and construction equipment is being heavily electrified, despite adverse factors such as the overall cost of manufacturers and end users. With regard to whether charging infrastructure and operation time limit will hinder market growth in the next five years, several market studies in 2022 show that the answer is clear "no".
The latest forecast of Markets and Markets shows that the market for non road equipment of battery power and hybrid power will grow strongly in the next five to ten years. In 2021, the market value will be about 4.3 billion dollars. By 2022, this number will more than double to about 9.2 billion US dollars, and is expected to continue to grow. It is estimated that by 2027, the market of electric construction equipment will grow to US $24.8 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22%. Other studies have pushed this figure to $42.4 billion by 2030.
Major construction equipment manufacturers, including Volvo Construction Equipment, John Deere, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Doosan SM, etc., are developing multiple 名媛直播 and have adopted strategies such as product release, expansion, cooperation, partnership and merger to meet new needs.
They focus on providing advanced technology driven equipment for construction, mining and agricultural applications, while reducing the carbon footprint and complying with global emissions regulations. Some OEM manufacturers have committed to reducing fleet emissions by 2050 by developing electric or hybrid equipment.
For many OEM manufacturers, as motor development continues, at least the diesel version of their compact equipment may be phased out. However, the compact electrical equipment lineup is only the first to be introduced, as engineers from different manufacturers are developing systems for large building equipment.
Various studies show that hybrid electric equipment will occupy the largest market share of 58.8% in 2021. This machine is designed to increase the use of internal combustion engines in collaboration with the electric power train. This technology allows users to run smaller engines at lower speeds, providing fewer moving parts and higher fuel efficiency. All these factors are expected to contribute to the growth of hybrid equipment.
When the complete machine factory further expands the pure electric equipment, other challenges are charging and the standardization of the battery capacity of the complete machine. Even though these problems have been solved, they still pose a severe challenge to the global electrical building equipment market.
Market prospect of non road equipment electrification
The North American market will account for the largest revenue share of the electric non road equipment market in 2021, accounting for 42%. Due to the increasing demand for large-scale projects and advanced technologies to improve efficiency, it is expected that the market will continue to dominate in the next five years.
According to the data of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018, non road equipment accounted for nearly 30% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. The increasing emissions have prompted more manufacturers to introduce the motor type of their non road vehicles. Like other countries, the United States has issued stricter carbon emission regulations, prompting construction contractors to further increase the demand for electrification equipment.
With the high electrification trend in developed countries and the high demand for construction and mining equipment, it is expected that European electrical equipment will continue to have a large market share in the next five years. Strict emission regulations and the government's sustainable development initiatives are also key reasons for a larger market for electrical building equipment in the region.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), about 44% of the European population is affected by road and vehicle noise, resulting in serious health problems. In order to solve this problem, countries are making efforts to formulate regulations to control the noise generated by construction equipment. Promote the noise reduction of diesel powered construction machinery to minimize its noise impact in residential areas. In Norway, for example, municipal officials in Oslo expect to introduce low-noise equipment at all public construction sites by 2025. The plan involves setting minimum standards for bidders for their bidding contracts to create a market for electrified building equipment. Similar projects are being developed in London and Paris.
With the introduction of all these new regulations and initiatives, European construction companies are increasingly interested in electric engineering vehicles and equipment. The decibel value of these electric equipment is lower, which is suitable for working in urban areas. At present, most complete machine manufacturers are introducing compact electrical equipment specially designed for urban applications and meeting the noise decibel limit.
The rapid development of this technology has also taken place in China, India, South Korea and other countries. China is a major contributor to the manufacturing of construction equipment because it has many OEM manufacturers, low labor costs, low production costs, and better manufacturing facilities.
How to promote the use of electric equipment
Grand View Research's analysis of the electric non road equipment market shows that the revenue share of the construction equipment segment is the largest, 38.2% in 2021.
In the field of construction, the electrification of small or compact equipment, such as wheel loaders, small excavators, as well as compact crawler loaders and skid loaders, seems to be the focus. Electrification is very suitable for small machines with low power requirements.
Their use in small projects means that their daily working hours are shorter than those of large machines, which means that their power needs can be met through small capacity batteries and generators.
Although construction equipment is being rapidly electrified, many people will argue that the mining industry currently has a considerable market share in electric non road equipment, and mining applications currently lead the global market in value creation. This call mainly comes from the requirements of mining companies and the government on the safety, environment and economic benefits of electric and hybrid mining equipment.
In order to overcome regulations on ventilation systems, reduce noise, reduce overall capital and maintenance costs, mining equipment manufacturers and mine owners are turning to electrification and automation of mining vehicles. Automation brought by electrification can solve the labor problems and safety challenges in the operation area.
Like manufacturers, many leading mining companies have committed to achieving "net zero emissions" by 2050, and they prefer electric fleets to achieve these sustainable development goals.
In the agricultural market, John Deere, Kesnew Dutch Industry and other manufacturers are promoting the technology of tractors, harvesters and other agricultural machinery, and people's interest in electric equipment continues to rise. Consumers in North America and Europe are using modern agricultural equipment and advanced agricultural techniques to achieve higher yields.
It is estimated that the demand for electric and hybrid excavators, dump trucks, tractors, etc. will increase rapidly in the five-year forecast period.
