Electric vehicles to serve the construction, agriculture and mining sectors will be a US$87 billion market in 2028, according to a new report issued by IDTechEx.

 

Pure electric is a legal requirement for machinery and vehicles indoors. However, outdoors it is the fuel saving and better performance of such vehicles that attracts. Cranes and man-lifters have many applications, and their production volumes are larger than most people realise. Accordingly, the new report forecasts that 164,000 electric versions are set to be sold in 2028.

 

At present, Komatsu, John Deere, Caterpillar and others manufacture the big vehicles (mainly hybrid), while other manufacturers offer smaller, pure-electric versions. The new report predicts that opportunities will be myriad for such machinery suppliers in the decade ahead, as the three core segments of construction, agriculture and mining experience transformations. 

 

Movements in mining

 

For example, over 90 per cent of the world's mines are open cast, and they are often situated in remote places up to 4,000 metres above sea level, where shipping diesel can cost more than buying it. Consequently, there is now a move to have 350kW giant haul trucks working the floor and separately the top of the mine with electric rail-veyors lifting the ore from bottom to top. In an all-electric solution, new pollution laws can be met, image improved and money saved, with the electricity coming from the mine's own wind turbines and photovoltaics. Battery swapping and fast charging of those batteries means 350kWh batteries suffice – big but no larger than those in other EV sectors.

 

The report from IDTechEx – Electric Vehicles for Construction, Agriculture and Mining 2018-2028 – explains all this and gives detailed forecasts, comparisons and assessments. It shows how mines will electrify much more but only after the current bust period of the boom-and-bust cycle that much characterises this industry. 

 

The tractor goes electric in earnest

 

The report also shows why the ubiquitous tractor in agriculture will, at last, be electric in volume quantities by 2028, and how new forms of vehicle design are coming. 

 

Benchmarking from the 46 categories of electric vehicle that IDTechEx forecasts, the report explains what new technologies will arrive and why. Supercapacitors, new power components, greater modularisation and integration, it says, will all transform this industry. 

 

www.IDTechEx.com/cam