Developed by Japanese material handling giant Tadano, the 100-ton GR-1000XLL EVOLT is a wheeled electric crane built to handle rough terrain and unfinished job site surfaces. And now, Tadano’s electric crane coming to America.
First revealed last summer, the new electric rough terrain crane offers all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and can reach a maximum lifting height of more than 224 feet (nearly 70 m) and a maximum arc radius of over 190 ft (58 m).
“We are very confident in the investment we’ve made in this crane,” said Dean Barley, president and CEO at Tadano America of the 100-ton-capacity machine. “This electric crane has been tested and retested. We wanted to make sure that the first fully electric rough terrain (RT) crane in North America meets all the requirements of the market.”
Tadano GR-1000XLL at ConExpo
The GR-1000XLL EVOLT ships with six lithium ion batteries packing 226 kWh of power. That’s good enough for five hours of continuous operation and up to 12.5 miles of driving range. If it doesn’t need to move that day, operators can get as many as seven hours of continuous operation before it needs charging. Once there, the big mobile crane can be connected to a standard CCS1 DCFC port at up to 150 kW – enough to fully charge its batteries in under two hours, or overnight on an 80 A 220/240 V L2 charger.
Being fully electric, the EVOLT is quiet enough to work at night in urban and sensitive – and, because it produces no exhaust emissions, can also be tasked with indoor work in hangars and stadiums where diesel emissions would quickly pose a substantial health risk.
And, in addition to offering the ability for construction crews to bid on work they simply couldn’t get without an electric option, the company says its new EVOLT models will reduce operating costs on an annual basis by about 35% compared to the diesel-powered version of the same crane. That estimate includes costs of fuel and electricity, as well as maintenance and downtime costs at an estimated 1,200 engine hours per year.
Electrek’s Take
As most people in the shipping and logistics industries will tell you, most big cranes are already electric – and virtually all of the really big cranes are, too. What’s unique about Tadano’s solution is that it’s among the first mobile cranes (and the first rough terrain crane that I’m aware of) to get the full electric treatment.
According to Tadano President and CEO Toshiaki Ujiie, advancing decarbonization and “green solutions” is an important initiative for the company. “We have decarbonization goals for 2030 and to 2050,” Ujiie expains. “We have an aggressive plan to produce electric and hybrid product lines. We will continue to give our customers green choices.”
Author: Jo Borrás
Source: Electrek
