Liebherr is pressing ahead with its efforts to phase out fossil fuels on its job sites, but they don’t think battery-electric is the best solution for the heaviest heavy equipment – and the company’s latest hydrogen-powered wheel loader seems like it’s struggling to prove that point.
Despite the company’s efforts to convert some of the largest construction and mining machines on Earth to battery-electric power (efforts that have seen more than a million tons of material muscled aside), the company says it’s struggling to make a 40+ ton electric wheel loader make commercial sense.
At first blush, these seem like contradictory statements – but hang on. Mining equipment like massive excavators and 100+ ton haul trucks spend a ton of time in one place, and tend to operate in environments that have consistent access to grid power. That’s why it makes sense for Liebherr to electrify its 300 ton…
