At CES 2024, Caterpillar Inc. brought electric machines and energy solutions designed to meet customers’ evolving needs as they electrify their job sites. At the exhibit, visitors could see two primary electric machines from opposite ends of the size spectrum. One was the 301.9 mini-excavator, and the other taking up the most space was its R1700 XE LHD underground loader for mining.

“This event is renowned as the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators, making it the ideal place for us to demonstrate our leadership in power systems and integrated service solutions, which help our customers in the energy transition,” said Rod Shurman, Senior Vice President of Caterpillar’s Electrification + Energy Solutions Division.

The zero-exhaust-emission underground loader for mining features the industry’s only onboard battery with super-fast-charging capabilities, and the mini excavator has up to 50% more energy capacity than its peers, according to Alex Kapper, Director of Strategy and Business Development, Caterpillar Electrification + Energy Solutions, in a blog post.

The exhibit’s centerpiece, the R1700 XE LHD underground loader, offers a 16.5-ton (15-t) payload and 18-km/h (11-mph) top speed. It uses a switched-reluctance electric drive system that is Caterpillar-designed, -integrated, and -validated as well as supported for reliability, ease of cooling, and high performance.

The loader includes what the company says is the industry’s only onboard battery, eliminating the need to handle or exchange batteries. The LFP (lithium iron phosphate) unit can be fully charged in 30 min when paired with one standalone Cat MEC500 mobile equipment charger or in less than 20 min with two of those chargers.

The company’s battery-electric 301.9 mini excavator, first unveiled at Bauma 2022, is the first machine with a Caterpillar battery and includes an onboard AC charger. The company’s lithium-ion battery range features a modular design for flexible configurations across multiple applications. The batteries are engineered to be scalable to industry and customer performance needs and maximize sustainability throughout their lifecycle, including recycling and reuse at the end of life.

The mini excavator features a 48-V 32-kW·h battery pack, an operating weight of 2.2 ton (4850 lb), and a bucket capacity of 0.10 m³ (0.13 yd³). It has a run time of up to 8 h on a single charge, based on a typical application at a 40% to 60% utilization rate, with charging options of 3 kW max AC overnight and 9 kW via an available Cat DC charger.

According to Kapper, putting a battery in a machine is just one piece of the electrification puzzle. Cat’s customers need that machine to work as productively as the diesel-combustion-powered equipment they’ve used for decades. He says that battery-electric machines will require more on-site support and resources to solve challenges surrounding where to charge it, how to ensure there is adequate power capacity, how to manage energy costs, and where to source lower-carbon energy.

“On most construction and mining sites, the infrastructure to handle these tasks either doesn’t exist or hasn’t been developed fully yet,” he wrote. “No wonder some customers are hesitant about adopting electric machines.”

That’s why Cat showed more than battery-electric powered machines at CES, demonstrating its portfolio of integrated solutions in support of the energy transition.

Those solutions include on-site power generation capable of running on renewable fuels, solar panels, and hydrogen-powered fuel cells; energy storage solutions that work with any combination of diesel, natural gas, or renewable energy sources for optimal power; and chargers tested and validated to work with equipment on harsh construction and mining sites. In addition, it showed rugged battery packs with built-in telematics; inverters that transfer power from a generator or battery to the machine’s electric motor for optimized power; and digital monitoring and advanced analytics that make it easier to operate battery-electric machines and infrastructure.

“No single solution will work for every mining and construction site,” Kapper concluded. “But we’re confident there’s a combination that will, and customers can rely on our expertise to select the tools and technologies that make the most sense for their operations. We’re committed to helping them navigate their unique journey to a lower-carbon future.”

The CES 2024 presence comes on the heels of recent significant electrification news from the off-highway equipment maker.

Just before the show opened, Cat announced a key electrification strategic agreement with CRH to advance the deployment of its zero-exhaust emissions solutions with the number one aggregates producer in North America and the first company in that industry to sign such an agreement with the off-highway OEM. It focuses on accelerating the deployment of Cat’s 70- to 100-ton-class battery-electric trucks and charging solutions at a CRH site in North America.

In December, Caterpillar successfully demonstrated its first battery-electric prototype underground mining truck at its proving ground in Tasmania, Australia. The development is the result of input and support from customer Newmont Corp. to achieve its vision of a fully connected, automated, zero-carbon-emitting, end-to-end mining system.

Coming full circle, the battery-electric truck for Newmont will complete Cat’s first fully electric underground load and haul solution when paired with the R1700 XE battery electric loader.