I tested a 55,000-pound electric excavator. New ways to power off-road machines, which mostly run on diesel, could cut about 3 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.
Lol how do you think construction sites generate electricity to charge the batteries?
Three ways:
- They can prioritize bringing power to the site, and do that first
- They can use a trailer with solar panels, as is currently done today for lighting and tools
- For equipment which sees limited use, simply bring it to the site already-charged
Electric equipment doesn’t need to be a 100% replacement to make a big difference.
- It’s not always practical to get power to a site, depending on the utility and whatever upgrades they need.
- Solar doesn’t generate enough, and doesn’t generate at all overnight (when plant would be charged).
- Most plant lives on site and transporting it off site to charge is just going to add to costs and likely increase pollution (you need lorries to move them).
It’s a good idea, and one that’s growing, but it’s still niche and it will be a long time before construction sites are fully electric.
You’re saying this like sort of gotcha, but larger generators can be a lot more efficient than a smaller engine so even running a large diesel generator 24/7 to charge a battery is likely an improvement over a gas powered digger. Same reason powering an EV with a coal power plant is still a win over a gas car, bigger engines are more efficient.
Yeah I was aware of that as I posted it. I work on construction sites. More than anything I was highlighting how vehicles isn’t the only problem.