Digger Goes JCB Electric

As readers of Earthmovers Magazine will have seen, I was recently up at the JCB quarry to try out one of the latest battery powered machines from the Staffordshire based manufacturer, its first electric mini excavator.

Electric powered vehicles of all types seem to be all the buzz these days (pun intended) and we have seen a number of these machines shown as concepts over the years and of course we have also had the arrival of dual power machines as a prelude to all electric models. In all honesty for me personally the thought of driving an all-electric car has always horrified me, but having spent time on this new JCB 19C-1E electric excavator has really opened my eyes to the possibilities

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To my surprise on the day the machine dug away as good as any conventional combustion engine model with no loss of power in the dig cycle at any point in time. I had not expected that at all and the machine really impressed me. And to top it all, the machine goes about its business almost in silence all be it for a few whistles and squeaks. Electric power is the future of that there is no doubt and I’m looking forward to getting hands on with more electric construction kit over the coming years.

The new mini was also on display on the JCB stand at Plantworx last month and I had an informal chat with Peter Haddock about the machine in the rain!

Checkout the full story in issue 184 August 2019 of Earthmovers Magazine in shops now.