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Since the beginning of this year, the trend of electrification of global construction machinery products has become increasingly prominent. Data show that from January to May, a total of 1 electric loaders were sold in the industry, a year-on-year increase of 5.806%. The research and development of electric products has realized the transformation of the drive device from engine to electric motor, made up for the shortcomings of domestic enterprises in engine manufacturing, and provided new opportunities for enterprises to expand overseas markets.
Maximum battery life! On June 6, the newly developed electric tractor of Sany Heavy Truck rushed from Changsha to Shenzhen, achieving a single charge of 6.817 kilometers, setting a new record for the endurance of heavy trucks in the world.
Highest altitude! In the tunnel at an altitude of 4500,10 meters and a depth of 1 kilometers, the Liugong electric loader is surging. The electric loader can last for more than 1 hours a day on a charge of 20 hour and <> shift.
Since the beginning of this year, the trend of electrification of global construction machinery products has become increasingly prominent. "China's new energy construction machinery has developed rapidly, and a professional technical support system has been basically formed, laying a solid foundation for the next wide application." Su Zimeng, president of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, said.
According to data from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, from January to May, a total of 1 electric loaders were sold in the industry, a year-on-year increase of 5.806%; Among them, 102 units were sold in May, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%.
Transition to electrification
New energy and green new products have become a trend
The exhibition is an important window to observe the new trend of industrial development. At the recently concluded 3rd Changsha International Construction Machinery Exhibition, green became the main color, and electrified products firmly occupied the "C position".
Walking into the exhibition hall of Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd., electric loaders, electric excavators, electric wide-body vehicles and other products are lined up, 1500 square meters of exhibition hall, none of the products are fuel equipment, all exhibiting equipment is pure electric drive.
Coincidentally, in the Zoomlion Heavy Science and Technology Exhibition Hall, a number of new energy green products such as mixer trucks, crawler cranes, and straight-arm aerial work platforms such as pure electric and plug-in were unveiled, and the equipment accounted for about 30%.
What are the advantages of electrification?
Zeng Guangan, chairman of LiuGong, analyzed that at present, under the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, new energy technology and equipment have become one of the future development trends. Compared with traditional fuel equipment, electric products can achieve zero emissions, low noise, 20% higher work efficiency, and 30% lower failure rate.
Not only that, electric construction machinery also has better economy, and the comprehensive cost during the service life can be reduced by 50% to 70% compared with fuel machinery.
Looking at the electric excavator, the person in charge of Guangxi Fangchenggang Jimei Chemical Co., Ltd. introduced that he used to use a 320 fuel excavator, with a fuel consumption of 16 liters per hour and a daily fuel cost of 2600 yuan. After the introduction of electric excavators, the average hourly electricity consumption is 66.7 kWh, and the daily electricity bill is less than 1000,<> yuan.
"In this way, the photoelectric cost can save nearly 50,<> yuan a year for one piece of equipment, plus the electric excavator eliminates maintenance costs such as changing oil, and the use cost is lower." The chief said.
Looking at the electric minecart, He Huaqiang, director of Sany International Minecart Technology Institute, introduced that the minecart has three working conditions: heavy-load upstream, flat road and heavy-load downward. When the mine cart is heavily loaded down, it can convert potential energy into electrical energy, calculated according to 20 hours of attendance a day, only need to be charged once a day, which can save 30,50 to 80,<> yuan in fuel costs per year, saving <>% of the cost compared with traditional oil trucks. And the electric minecart has fewer parts, higher attendance, lower failure rate, and lower maintenance costs.
"Although the initial acquisition cost of electrified construction machinery is relatively high, the economy of electrified products is more obvious after the whole life cycle." Su Zimeng said that with the further improvement of technology, the cost of electrified products will be further reduced in the future.
Overcome new challenges
The domestic new energy supporting industry has provided a strong boost
For electric construction machinery, batteries are crucial. Statistics show that on the cost side, batteries account for 40% to 50% of the total cost of electric construction machinery.
"Compared with passenger cars, there are many types of construction machinery, the working environment is harsh, the operating power requirements are larger, and higher requirements are put forward for batteries." Su Zimeng introduced that to this end, the world's leading construction machinery companies have in-depth layout of electrification equipment, technology self-research and in-depth cooperation with "three electricity" enterprises.
For example, as early as 2020, Sany Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CATL to carry out close cooperation in the fields of new energy construction machinery. At present, Sany electric mixer trucks, electric muck trucks, electric dump trucks and other products equipped with CATL batteries have been used in batches in Henan, Yunnan, Xinjiang and other regions.
XCMG and BYD established a joint venture plant for battery cells. On January 1 this year, BYD's new energy power battery Xuzhou production base was laid, with a total investment of 4 billion yuan, to build a blade battery production line, and some production lines are scheduled to be put into operation in December 100.
"At present, the scale of China's power battery industry has been in a leading position in the world, and a number of patented technologies have been pioneered in the field of special power batteries for construction machinery, providing strong support for the research and development of electrification products for construction machinery." Jiang Yuwei, technical director of heavy truck and construction machinery of CATL, said.
On the other hand, construction machinery enterprises have also made efforts to tackle related core technologies.
In order to launch the electric construction machinery, LiuGong independently developed key components such as battery system, motor control system software and hardware platform, electric drive gearbox, transaxle and closed center valve hydraulic system.
Its self-developed power battery assembly system, the vibration resistance strength of the battery system is more than 3 times higher than the national standard, and the energy density of the system is 20% higher than the industry average, which meets the requirements of 8 to 10 hours of long-term battery life of construction machinery.
LiuGong has also developed a completely new drivetrain for electric construction machines. It launched the industry's first large hybrid loader drivetrain with a rated load of 10 to 11 tons, which not only improves the load carrying capacity of the drive axle, but also integrates dual motors into the gearbox, which greatly saves the overall machine space and reduces costs.
Not only that, after the electrification of construction machinery, it has laid a good foundation for the automation and intelligence of machinery.
"An important basis for automation and intelligence is wire control, electric construction machinery is driven by motors, which is naturally a wire control system, and the accuracy and responsiveness of control are better." He Huaqiang said that traditional fuel engineering machinery controls vehicles through clutches and gearboxes, and the accuracy of control is poor.
Grab the global market
Leading enterprises in the industry ushered in new opportunities to expand the market
"Environmental protection, economy, intelligence, and automation needs all support the transformation of construction machinery to electrification, and electrification has become an irreversible trend." He Huaqiang said.
Some experts predict that in 2025, the market space of electric loaders will be close to 300 billion yuan, and the market space of electric excavators will be close to 756.<> billion yuan, becoming the "fragrant food" that global construction machinery manufacturers focus on.
Riding the east wind of electrification, Chinese construction machinery enterprises have ushered in new opportunities for development.
Industry experts analyzed that the research and development of electric products has realized the transformation of the drive device from engine to electric motor, which just makes up for the shortcomings of domestic enterprises in engine manufacturing and provides new opportunities for enterprises to expand overseas markets.
On May 5, at the 16th XCMG International Customer Festival, nearly 30 new energy products in ten categories were collectively exhibited. Its key new energy product XRE268 gasoline-electric hybrid rotary drilling rig provides energy for the drilling rig by the engine and lithium battery at the same time, which can choose both lithium battery power supply mode and plug-in mode, which can not only meet various complex working conditions, but also greatly reduce the noise, emissions and fuel consumption of the whole machine.
Up to now, XCMG new energy construction machinery has covered more than 300 models in nine categories, and its sales revenue in 2022 increased by 117% year-on-year; New energy commercial vehicles cover five major strains of tractors, dump trucks, mixer trucks, trucks, and sanitation vehicles, and key components such as electric drives and electronic controls are basically independent and controllable, and sales revenue in 2022 increased by 352% year-on-year.
On May 5, at the 28rd LiuGong Global Customer Festival, more than 100 overseas customers from nearly 700 countries and regions signed equipment orders of 30 billion yuan with LiuGong, including more than 200 electric large-scale construction machinery.
"Through continuous technological innovation, Chinese enterprises are continuing to change the pattern of construction machinery in the world." Zeng Guangan said that at present, Chinese construction machinery enterprises have successfully participated in the formulation of international standards for electrified products, and China's construction machinery manufacturing industry ranks first in the world and its influence is constantly increasing.