This Hydrogen Powered Excavator Changes EVERYTHING

Hydrogen in Action at bauma as Hyundai Construction Equipment takes Zero-Emission excavation to the Next Level.

Three years ago, Peter Haddock visited its stand at bauma to see a static machine, but this year was different.

It unveiled a 15 tonne hydrogen fuel cell wheeled excavator, fully functional and site ready.

And of course, expert Peter Sebold was back to tell me all about it.

Peter: “Our fuel cell is like a power station on board… It creates electricity for the electric motor that drives the machine and hydraulic system, just like a conventional machine.”

“But what sets this machine apart is our innovative metal hydride tank system, which we use to store the hydrogen. “

This is a dense metal alloy that acts like a sponge, absorbing hydrogen molecules and doubling the tank capacity. It also serves a second role as a counterweight for the machine, as it is very heavy.

“The clever thing about this approach is that it releases the Hydrogen gas by using heat, feeding it to the fuel cell. “

The result is a 12 hour runtime, quiet operation, zero vibration, and one single emission, H₂O, which is just water.”

Of course, you have to get the Hydrogen to the machine, so at Bauma Hyundai brought its hydrogen-powered HGV refuelling station to the show. It can carry 150kg of hydrogen and refuel up to four machines at a time.

The other big news at the show was the announcement of a new partnership between Hyundai and Leica Geosystems.

This will allow customers to benefit from its MC1 3D machine guidance system as a retrofit option for the Next Generation of excavators, specifically engineered to work seamlessly with Hyundai’s existing 2D sensors and calibration systems.

But what’s the Hydrogen machine like to operate? - Look out for another video with young operator Ben Wade coming soon to find out…