Hyundai electric excavator moves to testing phase

Three years after it was first announced that Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) will partner with Cummins to jointly develop electric excavators, HCE has finally unveiled its first working electric excavator model.

The R18E is based on HCE’s R18 diesel excavator and has an operating weight of 1.9 tonnes.

“We decided to develop R18E as the first model by considering the proportion of our mini excavator sales and the development trend of competitors/modifiers comprehensively,” said HCE R&D senior researcher, Sang Hoon Lee, who is part of the company’s Future Power Technology Team.

“European professional renovation companies are converting a famous brand equipment into electric powered machine, and a small number of brands like Volvo, Wacker Neuson, JCB are leading the initial market, however, we believe that most construction equipment brands including HCE are already waiting to enter the market with electric technology.”

According to HCE, the R18E can operate continuously for more than four hours on a full charge with a free voltage range of 110-220 volts AC for home and industrial, and can be fully recharged in about 2.5 hours on a 220v AC.

Cummins has designed a new electric powertrain for the R18E featuring a motor, onboard charger, electric hardware integration and never-before-used BM8.9E battery.

In order to fit all of those components in place of a conventional diesel engine in the machine, Cummins had to get creative with its solutions, which included a custom motor-pump coupling assembly, split compact Power Distribution Unit solutions for maximising space utilisation and replacing a large mechanical fan mounted to the engine with a small electric fan that runs by battery to cool the hydraulic oil.

The end result is a fully functioning excavator with no engine or noise emissions.

HCE says the R18E will offer the same performance as its diesel counterpart with a number of additional benefits. One, it can be used more effectively in indoor environments where conventional excavators and their noise and engine emissions will pose a problem. Secondly, it is suitable for use in more noise sensitive places such as residential areas as it emits no noise, hence allowing it to be used even after normal work hours.  

Its lack of noise also means it is suitable for agricultural applications such as working in livestock sheds, so as to not cause stress to the animals.

Cummins says the company and HCE will now proceed to build 11, 1.9-tonne battery-electric mini excavators. In 2022, nine of those excavators will be delivered to customers across Europe and South Korea for field testing to determine their capability in applications where diesel-powered excavators are traditionally used.

HCE says it hopes to release the R18E commercially in June 2022. HCE says the company has begun development of its next electric-powered machine - the HX19E excavator, which is slated for release in late 2023.

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