50 percent greater fuel efficiency and ROI in one year, manufacturer claims.
Caterpillar has unveiled the first model in its new line of hybrid excavators, the Cat® 336E H. The new 336E H will be available following its official launch at bauma 2013 in Munich, Germany. The order board for the Cat 336E H opens in Feb. 2013, with factory shipments beginning in March 2013.
The Cat 336E H uses a new hydraulic hybrid technology developed by Caterpillar. “A hybrid is independent of any particular technology—it doesn’t have to be electric,” said Ken Gray, global product manager for large hydraulic excavators for Caterpillar’s Excavation Division. “There are many ways to store and reuse energy, including our patented hydraulic hybrid system featured on the Cat 336E H.”
“Caterpillar has developed, built, and tested electric hybrid excavators, but—until now—we had not found a hybrid approach that would actually lower our customers’ owning and operating costs,” Gray said. “Large excavators operate in high-production applications in which fuel is a very significant operating cost for our customers. So, the 336E H, the hybrid version of our workhorse 336E, is ideal for introducing our new hydraulic hybrid technology, with its more than 300 filed patents.”
The 336E H has all of the same powerful advantages of the 336E with the biggest difference between the two models being even greater fuel efficiency. To achieve added fuel savings, the design of the 336E H uses three building block technologies that:
1. Conserve fuel with engine power management via the Cat Electronic Standardized Programmable (ESP) pump, which smoothly transitions between the hydraulic hybrid power sources, engine and accumulator.
2. Optimise performance using restriction management via the patented Cat Adaptive Control System (ACS) valve, which intelligently manages restrictions and flows to seamlessly control machine motion with no loss of power, and to ensure operators experience no difference in control, hydraulic power or lift capability.
3. Reuse energy via the hydraulic hybrid swing system, which captures the excavator’s upper structure swing brake energy in accumulators, and then releases the energy during swing acceleration.
The 336E H delivers industry-leading productivity with up to 50 percent greater fuel efficiency over the 336D. Customers can expect the 336E H to use up to 25 percent less fuel compared to a standard 336E, and up to 33 percent less fuel than the 330/336D.
Precisely when customers will recoup their initial investment in a 336E H depends on fuel prices and their applications. Assuming today’s fuel prices and a high-production application for a 336E H, Caterpillar estimates customers can realistically expect to see a return on their investment for the hybrid excavator model in as little as one year.
“The 336E H is a game-changer—the most revolutionary excavator to come to market in decades,” said Gary Stampanato, vice president of Caterpillar’s Excavation Division. “Customers aren’t going to choose the 336E H simply because it is sustainable. They will select it because it actually lowers their owning and operating costs.”
