As the world’s largest equipment manufacturers convened in Munich for the Bauma equipment show April 4-14, the overriding question was what has changed in the industry since the last show three years ago. Well over half a million attendees came out to Bauma to see what the next big thing in construction equipment will be, and the proliferation of battery-driven equipment—encroaching on diesel-power’s dominance—was what turned heads.
While equipment manufacturers have largely met the technical challenges of complying with stringent emissions requirements in the U.S. and the European Union, even tougher rules in some urban areas and advances in battery technology are changing the face of compact equipment. Leading the charge at the show was Volvo Construction Equipment, which unveiled the commercially available models of its battery-powered compact excavator and wheel loader previewed earlier this year (ENR 2/18-25 p. 10).