Remote-controlled EV digger announced by Komatsu

A fully electric, remote-controlled mini excavator powered by a lithium-ion battery has been announced during centennial celebrations by Komatsu president and chief executive Hiroyuki Ogawa as its next-generation concept machine.

“Looking into the next 100 years, Komatsu will continue to move forward with its stakeholders as it creates value through manufacturing and technology innovation to empower a sustainable future where people, businesses and our planet thrive together,” Komatsu Australia managing director and chief executive Sean Taylor says.

“Komatsu’s focus is on creating a sustainable footprint through our operations, processes and our products.”

Designed to lay the foundations for commercialisation of fully electric construction equipment of the future, this concept machine for an electric three-ton class (bucket capacity 0.09m3) mini excavator is based on Komatsu’s accumulated technological expertise in electric forklifts and mini excavators.

It incorporates new technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries (31.5kW) and electric cylinders which don’t use hydraulics.

Thanks to all-electric power, it is an eco-friendly machine as it generates no exhaust gas, noise or heat. In addition to improved energy efficiency, it also features maintenance-free operation, avoiding use of hydraulic equipment.

As this concept machine requires no operator on board, Komatsu has achieved new concepts related to vehicle designs and performance.

A vehicle controller and operational device are connected via wireless LAN, resulting in no need to install facilities or create an environment required in the conventional remote-control system, and enabling remote control operations under any work environment.

The operator can select the preferred operations device.

It’s expected to make machine operation easy for work in confined, dangerous sites, such as for indoor demolition and rescue work from disasters.

In 2020, Komatsu launched the PC30E-5 electric mini excavators (hydraulic drive) in Japan, and it plans to introduce electric mini excavators after equipping them with the lithium-ion battery system used in the concept machine for Europe in FY2022.

“Climate change and moving towards a global zero-emissions economy is obviously the big challenge for our generation,” Taylor says.

“Komatsu has a long and rich history of driving sustainable innovation, with industry breakthroughs such as the first Hybrid Excavator which reduced fuel consumption by over 40% and the deployment of low emission engines that reduce particulate matter by up to 80% – this concept machine is an exciting extension of this journey.”