by Nick Drew | Fri 04 Sep 2020
Electric Times for Wacker Neuson
The DW15e electric battery powered site dumper has been around now since 2018, which is when I first saw it during the scorching hot Hillhead exhibition that year, when it was shown alongside the EZ17e mini excavator and the WL20e compact loader all of which were electric powered.
The DW15e made its first official public appearance at the giant Bauma trade fair in Munich in 2019, once again flanked by the other electric battery powered machines in the range, including compaction equipment and concrete pokers powered by a backpack battery.
At Plantworx in the UK later last year, the DW15e won the shows Innovation Award, in addition to their Dual View dumpers, making it a double award-winning show for the Austrian based manufacturer.
During our visit to Wacker Neuson UK I got to spend a bit of time on the DW15e out in their yard area. The machine incorporates an all-wheel drivetrain as well as a lead-acid battery – offering operators the similar performance as the diesel-equivalent.
WIth a payload of up to 1.5-metric tons, the machine is equipped with two electric motors, one is dedicated to the drive system, while another supplies to power for the hydraulics, the two-motor system helps to minimise energy consumption.
According to Wacker Neuson, in a scenario similar to a Hybrid vehicle, when applying the brakes on the machine or driving downhill, the energy is fed back into the battery and used for charging purposes rather than converted into heat.
Checkout our video to find out more about this great little machine.
A point of interest at the Wacker Neuson UK facility is in the foyer/entrance, where there is a historical collection of classic hand tool items manufactured by the company in years gone by.
It was great to pop along to Wacker Neuson UK for this random visit and to be able to showcase some of the exciting and varied products this innovative company produce, the Digger Man Blog would like to thank Ian Wood and Kevin Ranshaw for taking the time to show both myself and Peter Haddock of Content with Media around on the day.