Falco Construction & UK Power Netwrosk to trial electric excavator
Should the trial prove to be successful, Falco will invest over £6 million in replacing its 120-strong diesel-powered fleet of excavators with fully electric models, or ‘e-diggers,’ as the initiators put it.
The electric excavators are made by Takeuchi, and have an operating weight of over 2 tonnes, coupled with a 73-volt battery, and can dig to a depth of 2.39 metres. The track width stands at 980–1.300 mm and the height is 2.280 mm. With an on-board charger, it can charge using a 95V to 265V single-phase power connection, or an optional off-board charger is also available, with 340V to 460V three-phase power.
No explicit time frame was mentioned for the trial or acquisition, however, Mete Coban, London’s deputy mayor for environment and energy said: “The Mayor is committed to reducing toxic air pollution and reaching his ambitious goal of net-zero carbon by 2030.”
“We are incredibly proud of this trial and excited about the initial positive findings. e-diggers could ultimately be a huge enabler in UK Power Networks and Falco achieving their joint Net Zero commitments,” said Katherine Jennings, continuous improvement manager at UK Power Networks.
Alan Seyfi, support services director at Falco Construction, added: “The Takeuchi Model is the first electric mini-excavator we have seen that performs comparably with more traditionally-powered diggers. We estimate that replacing our current 120-strong fleet with TB20e’s would directly remove over 200 tonnes of CO2e emissions each year and be a major step forward on our road to Net Zero.”
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