26 trying to move a pile or do other type of work with the attachment, so they can literally drive through a pile. In fact, we had to dial it down to avoid damage.” The lack of a need for engine idling means the electric machine can stop consuming power as soon as the operator lets off the joysticks. This eliminates the energy inefficiencies experienced in diesel-fuelled versions, which not only need to sit idle while waiting for the next work operation, but are also often left idle when an operator takes a lunch break. Honeyman accepts that the lack of charging infrastructure needed to support electric machines is viewed by many as one of the biggest trade-offs, but he believes people’s perceptions will change once they understand how efficiently the charge is used and how it is able to deliver such an unexpectedly high usage time. “Diesel is all over the planet, people can fuel up quickly, they understand it, and there’s a whole infrastructure globally that supports that,” he says. “We don’t have that for electric machines, so there are definite challenges with the perception of the platform beyond the machine itself that are holding some people back. “But people’s perceptions are based on how their current compact construction machines operate, with one third of the time spent at idle, and we have eliminated that. We have also developed different working modes to optimise battery usage and performance, including an eco-friendly mode, a work mode and a more advanced mode to help conserve energy.” Those three operational modes provide a similar effect to the ‘turtle and rabbit’ settings found on the diesel machine, but they work in a very different way. Pfaff explains: “In a normal machine, the different modes are based on turning the rpm of the engine up or down, but in the electric machine we are not managing the rpm of an engine. “Instead, we allow the operator to turn down the maximum level of power, and in some cases that creates a tool for the operator to control the machine in a very different way to how they are used to, meaning that if they are going to do work and don’t need to consume the power, they can turn it down. “You can either do that with the throttle knob or you can go into the software settings of the machine and turn it down from Mode 3 to Mode 2 to Mode 1, and you’ll only really notice the power decrease in the machine in terms of the velocity of the motors and less in terms of a reduction in power. “One of the big advantages is that when those motors are operating at higher speeds, they draw more power, so in effect it allows you to decrease the amount of power and increase your run time by either decreasing the mode or just turning down that knob like you would do normally to get less rpm.” Honeyman adds: “All of this means the machine’s total runtime, depending on application, is between three to five hours, and because of that eliminated idling time, four hours run time is more than enough for a full work day for most customers. In fact, we have found that most people don’t charge every day; they charge every several days, or even every three to four days. “That brings with it a big financial advantage. Operating this machine is one-tenth of the cost of a diesel hydraulic equivalent machine, so depending on the number of hours, a diesel hydraulic machine may run about £7,500 a year, whereas this is running at less than £1,000 when you consider the cost of electricity and the reduced maintenance.” Secrets in the software The secret of this particular EV’s success is the software, which manages the flow between all the different operations. In fact, Pfaff is entirely serious when he says this operates more similarly to a robot than a machine, and during its development the engineers were even able to use the software to unlock features that have previously been extremely challenging to implement. “Traditionally, development is about structures, powertrain and Dossier | Bobcat T7X electric compact track loader March/April 2025 | E-Mobility Engineering The electric functionality allows the T7X to incorporate an innovative automatic bucket-shaking system
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