Since 2024, there has been a notable trend in the Chinese construction machinery industry: the acceleration of electrification.
Starting from 2023, with breakthroughs in electrification technology and decreasing battery prices, the payback period for electrified construction machinery has significantly shortened, leading to a major breakthrough in industrialization. This trend has been particularly evident in the loader and excavator sectors.
From 2022 to 2023, the electrification penetration rate of loaders increased from less than 1% to 3.5%. In June of this year, the sales of electric loaders reached 1570 units, a year-on-year increase of 418.15% and a month-on-month increase of 25.60%, accounting for 14.55% of loader sales. The penetration rate is gradually rising. In the first half of this year, the cumulative sales of electric loaders reached 5114 units, surpassing the total sales for the whole of 2023, with a year-on-year growth of 361.14% and accounting for 8.97% of the total loader sales.
Regarding electric excavators, 16 units were sold in June this year, showing a month-on-month growth of 128.57%. The cumulative sales of electric excavators in the first half of 2024 reached 54 units. By the end of June 2024, Sany Heavy Industry launched its first overseas medium-sized electric excavator in the Netherlands and secured 20 signed pre-sale orders, marking a new breakthrough for Chinese brands in the European electrification market.
Industrial giant ABB has provided customized solutions for top companies such as Komatsu, Hitachi, Caterpillar, and Volvo, which have been applied in excavators, loaders, forklifts, mining equipment, yachts, buses, and other fields.
Currently, the global electrification rate of construction machinery is less than 1%. With anticipated technological breakthroughs and achieving significant cost reductions, the electrification penetration rate is expected to exceed 30%. Taking excavators as an example, with approximately 195,000 excavators sold in China in 2023, there could be a demand for around 60,000 electric excavators annually.
After overcoming the efficiency bottleneck of electric product transmission, the cost of electrified construction machinery is expected to decrease significantly. Once the economic benefits become prominent, it will usher in a boom in the development of electrified construction machinery.