like a protective parent, Mike Betz winces a little when people call the D7E a “hybrid” tractor. The diesel-electric dozer may have hybrid-like qualities. For example, it reuses some mechanical energy at the flywheel, but it shares very little DNA with a Toyota Prius. “It is different because this machine cycles back and forth,” says Betz. “It’s not like a car where you sit at a stoplight for a minute or two.”
Betz, 44, quietly led the team that developed Caterpillar Inc.’s first electric-drive dozer. At first glance, Betz comes off as a soft-spoken, shy engineer. Ask him about D7E, and his voice turns passionate. “It’s definitely new, emerging technology, and it’s exciting,” Betz says. The machine costs about $600,000, 20% more than a non-hybrid tractor, but it promises a 25% fuel-efficiency edge and a 2½-year payback. Last year, it earned a clean-air award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.