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8 technical things you need to know if you want to start electrification
Reliable batteries for excavators
Intercel has the best batteries for your excavator. We have a wide range of clean, powerful and reliable batteries with the right specifications. For excavators, we offer batteries with lead and lithium. In our view, lithium batteries are the best suitable batteries for battery-powered excavators, because they can stand extreme conditions and extreme usage best. They have a very long lifespan and are easy to read out with a Battery Management System (BMS). If a standard solution does not suffice, we are happy to create a tailor-made battery solution for your excavator.
Why a battery-powered excavator?
The construction sector is rapidly switching to electric, and battery-powered excavators are also becoming increasingly more interesting to the sector. Excavators powered by electricity cause far less CO2 emissions and have a much longer lifespan than fuel-powered machines. The work is far more comfortable for your staff, because electric machines have less vibrations and do not emit toxic fumes. Due to the fact that electric machines are almost silent, you will have less concerns about the environment in which you work. For example, you can work in residential areas or nearby schools without being a nuisance. Another benefit of battery-powered excavators is that companies that work with this type of equipment get priority with tenders from government authorities.
Which different types of batteries are there for excavators?
The most widely used batteries for this application are LiFe PO4 batteries and Lithium NMC batteries. NiCd batteries, until recently the most used batteries, have the crucial disadvantage that they have a memory. This means that a full cycle has to be carried out with each use. If this does not occur, the battery loses a part of its capacity. The NiMH battery is the improved variant of the NiCd battery. With these batteries the memory effect is a bit less than with traditional NiCd batteries, but it still exists. Therefore, it is important to fully discharge and then recharge the battery every now and then.
Therefore, the best solution is using a Lithium battery. Within the group of Lithium batteries, we have multiple solutions: from Lithium NMC and LiFe PO4 to a tailor-made Lithium battery solution. Lithium batteries do not suffer from memory effect, and have a higher energy density than NiCd or NiMH batteries. This means that a better capacity can be achieved with a significantly lower weight and much smaller dimensions. The disadvantage of Lithium is the initial acquisition price. This is higher than the other options, but you will quickly recoup these costs thanks to its longer lifespan.