To win one of the world’s most respected engineering prizes is an outstanding endorsement for JCB’s electrification team, who have achieved so much in applying a technology that was new to the business. Our winning product was the first in a growing range of electric machines which will contribute to a zero carbon future and help make the world more sustainable. As a team, the Award has inspired and motivated us to keep driving innovation and zero-emissions products, and we are pleased to say we can now offer our customers seven products in our E-TECH range, another achievement we are immensely proud of.
In this age of Covid-19 we are undoubtedly living through one of humanity’s toughest modern-day challenges, but the pandemic has brought about a true spirit of unity and collaboration as everyone has risen to that challenge together.
It is this attitude we must apply to the climate crisis. Although Covid-19 requires a mammoth, united focus, we must not lose sight of the other huge challenges we face, which will demand innovative engineering and drive us towards a zero emissions future.
The challenge of zero emissions equipment
The JCB 19C-1E is the world’s first volume-produced fully electric excavator, one of many achievements we are proud of at JCB. Powered by 4 lithium-ion battery packs - with a capacity of 20 kWhr – the 19C-1E provides more than enough energy to power the machine for a full day’s shift, while matching the digging performance of the diesel counterpart. The additional benefits of the 19C-1E are its zero-emissions at point of use, and much lower noise in comparison to a diesel machine.
In urban environments in particular, contractors are understandably very keen to operate zero emissions equipment whenever possible, including outdoors. So we needed to offer customers robust electric machines capable of working outdoors in all weathers, which would perform as well as a diesel-powered JCB machine on every job. That’s why, in 2018, we launched our 19C-1E-TECH, which went into full production in 2019.
We now face the greatest challenge yet – climate change and rising global temperatures. Ignored and the consequences will be catastrophic. We need to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, or we will be in the midst of another crisis. At JCB we have been working really hard over the last 10 years to reduce our own carbon footprint both as a business and through the impact of our products.
JCB have cut the fuel consumed by our machines by half and produced the cleanest and most fuel-efficient diesel engines ever built. Make no mistake, this clean diesel technology represents the most effective path to reducing CO2 in the short to medium term.
Driving future sustainable innovation
It won’t come as any great surprise to learn that we are looking at alternative fuels, particularly for our larger products which we can’t electrify. In early July, we announced that JCB had developed the construction industry’s first-ever hydrogen powered excavator, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell which has been undergoing rigorous testing for well over a year. Our Chairman Lord Bamford was the driving force behind this project. He saw then – and sees now – the great potential for hydrogen as a fuel of the future as we all strive towards a zero carbon world.
No individual manufacturer, organisation or industry can solve the carbon problem single-handedly. But construction as a whole can unquestionably play its part. It will rely on total buy-in from across the sector.
We need local governments to demand clean, zero-carbon construction; we need customers to demand zero-carbon solutions and accept that they may be a little more expensive in the short term; we need rental companies to become pioneers, encouraging customers to trial and understand the technology; we need operators to embrace electric products, be ambassadors for them, and to tell us how to make them even better; we need infrastructure and charging points, sooner and in greater volumes than current provisions enable.
If the above are to come to fruition, we need great leadership. Great leaders change the status quo, embrace problems and deliver solutions. We need those in a position of influence to step up and show great leadership now; that way we will be able to make an impact on the world before it is too late. They must lead by example and start adopting both reduced and zero-emission technology today.
As an industry, we must have a sense of urgency on this most crucial challenge. And if we all play our part, together we can make a difference that will change the world for generations to come.