Dcnonl.com: Hybrids make push into heavy equipment sector
January 11, 2010
Construction Corner | Korky Koroluk
Dcnonl.com: It took a decade of research and development, but the first diesel-electric bulldozer has been delivered to a customer — and he loves it. It will, he says, save his company money.
A press handout marking the occasion called the tractor, manufactured by Caterpillar, the first bulldozer in the world to employ hybrid diesel-electric technology. Others are sure to follow. The tractor, designated the D7E, is now in full production, and Cat’s competitors are ramping up as well. In the United States, John Deere is close to having a hybrid ready for market. Others, including Komatsu, Volvo and New Holland, are experimenting with hybrid technologies in other heavy equipment. Whether they apply their technology to dozers remains to be seen.
There is a good deal of uncharted territory surrounding hybrid technology. Caterpillar has about 100 new patents on bits and pieces of its new tractor, for example. This was not a case of simply making a better diesel engine; it was a case of inventing a whole new power system.
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