On April 3, 2022, BYD announced that it would stop the whole vehicle production of fuel vehicles from March this year and would focus on pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the future. At this time, the layout of electric construction machinery is accelerating.
In the previous article, "how fragrant are electric construction machinery with high oil prices?" In the article, the author analyzes the advantages, disadvantages and future development trend of electric construction machinery and equipment from the perspective of users.
In terms of excavators alone, if electrification is implemented, the author believes that small excavation will be an excellent breakthrough. There are the following reasons.
The total cost is low and the user acceptance is relatively high
Referring to the electric loader that has achieved preliminary sales, it is found that its market price is about three times that of ordinary fuel loader (including charging pile and other supporting equipment). Similarly, the realization of motorization of excavators can not bypass the barrier of increasing the purchase cost in the early stage.
Users in construction machinery industry are very sensitive to price. Battery cost is the largest part of the price increase of electric excavator. Small excavators need smaller batteries and lower prices. Compared with medium and large excavators, the total cost of small excavation after electrification is much lower, which can be borne by some users.
Considering the advantages of later use and maintenance cost of electric excavator, the money saved can well cover the increased purchase cost at the initial stage of small excavation. Other studies show that with the maturity of technology, the battery cost is expected to decrease by 5% ~ 10% every year. This will also be very beneficial to the breakthrough of small excavation electrification.
Market demand, small digging market accounts for a large proportion
According to the data of China Construction Machinery Industry Association, from 2011 to 2020, the sales volume of small excavators (Note: according to the statistics of the association, it is divided into < 18.5t) increased from 82000 to 177000, realizing a blowout growth. The proportion of small excavation in the total sales volume peaked at about 65.00% in 2015-2016.
Over the past three years, the sales volume of small excavators less than 18.5t has accounted for about 60% of the total sales volume of domestic excavators.
The huge market space also lays a solid foundation for small excavation to take the lead in realizing electrification. It is understood that since the second half of 2019, the loss of each fuel sold by the agent has exceeded 20000 yuan. Will the electric small excavation with higher price become a new profit point for agents? Urge agents to increase promotion efforts?
Mature technology, higher stability of "oil" to "electricity"
Another difficulty in realizing the electrification of excavators lies in the harsh construction environment. The construction environment such as high vibration intensity is particularly demanding for electronic and electrical components such as batteries.
The construction environment of small excavation is more concentrated in cities, villages and towns, and the working condition is easier than that of medium and large excavators. The existing mature battery technology can meet the technical requirements of electric small excavation. Various main engine manufacturers have also launched a number of small electric excavator equipment in major exhibitions.
Application scenario: casual activities without endurance anxiety
In fact, many users refuse electric excavators because of endurance anxiety. Usually, the battery of medium-sized electric excavator can maintain 6 ~ 8 hours of working time, but it is difficult to meet the needs of users for continuous operation.
Small excavators rarely face this kind of high-intensity continuous operation, and they mostly undertake some odd and casual work. It is normal to stop and stop digging. Basically, one charge is enough to meet the needs of the day.
In some indoor, tunnel and other confined space operations, the advantages of no emission and low noise of electric excavator are more prominent. Under indoor working conditions, some types of excavators can also tow the line, let alone worry about the problem of "Endurance".
There are always striking similarities in history. The situation faced by the electrification process of construction machinery is very similar to that of passenger cars more than ten years ago. Will the future growth curve of China's electric excavator market show a similar trend to the current electric passenger vehicle market? First go through a slow climbing stage. When more and more users really feel the charm of electric excavators, they will usher in a blowout period. The author believes that in the slow climbing stage, electric small excavation is a good breakthrough.
