Hitachi charges forward

20 April 2022

Receiving its first UK public viewing at the recent Futureworx event was the ZE85 excavator from Hitachi Construction Machinery. This is an 8.7-tonne battery powered model that is claimed to give a typical running time of four hours. 

Standard recharge time is 105 minutes which can be reduced to 45 minutes using a rapid charger. 

The manufacturer has also partnered with KTEG, a specialist construction engineering company, to develop the Powertree, a mobile quick-charge station for off-road use. 

Having a 126kWh storage capacity, the Powertree can recharge machines like the ZE85 as well as other battery powered plant and electric vehicles with a CCS2 connection, according to KTEG’s project coordinator Timo Vestweber. 

Jon Barnfield, Hitachi’s director of sales, tells me that the performance of the ZE85’s hydraulics is typically smoother than diesel counterparts because of the continuous delivery of power from the electric motor. 

“Contractors are going to increasingly request battery machines, not just for their low emissions but also because they enable work to be undertaken in indoor spaces and areas such as tunnels,” he says.