The first all-electric excavators from JCB have rolled off the production line and been delivered to customers.
The 19C-1E, which JCB says is the construction industry’s first fully-electric mini excavator, is produced in Cheadle, Staffordshire, for customers across Europe and North America.
It’s said to be five times quieter than an equivalent diesel model and can be fully charged in under two hours. It should also cost about 50 per cent less to charge than if it was running on diesel, while servicing expenses are expected to be 70 per cent lower.
JCB hopes the model will be particularly popular with companies working inside buildings and on inner-city construction sites, where emissions constraints and noise sensitivity are more important.
It uses similar batteries to leading electric vehicles and provides the same level of performance as the firm’s 1.9-tonne diesel-powered excavator.
Tim Burnhope, JCB chief innovation officer, said: “In urban environments in particular, contractors are understandably very keen to operate zero emissions equipment whenever possible, including outdoors.
“I’m delighted that the model is now in full production after successful feedback from customers in many key markets during the evaluation stage.”