Caterpillar brings electric equipment ecosystem to CES2024
Caterpillar turned the heads of CES attendees with a monstrous, all-electric underground mining loader – but the real game-changer wasn’t the big mining rig, or even the electric excavator. Instead, it was Cat’s cutting-edge energy management systems to keep electric equipment charged up and ready to work.
“We are thrilled to return to CES to showcase our advancements in energy solutions. This event is renowned as the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators, making it the ideal place for us to demonstrate our leadership in power systems and integrated service solutions, which help our customers in the energy transition,” said Rod Shurman, senior vice president of Caterpillar’s Electrification + Energy Solutions Division.
To that end, Caterpillar showcased a number of on-site generators capable of generating electric power to store in its battery energy storage system (BESS). Caterpillar says its BESS is designed for rapid plug-and-play installation and integration, compatible with any combination of diesel, natural gas, or renewable energy sources.
Granted, fuel-agnostic energy storage is something most BESS products are capable of – but the concept of using on-site batteries for EV charging is still new enough that it might still be news to Cat’s customers. In fairness, Cat’s big BESS offers a comprehensive array of charging ports, making it compatible with almost any EV, charging it in about 20-40 minutes.
Caterpillar also showcased several smaller DC chargers designed to be compact enough for a single worker to wheel up to a piece of electric equipment and charge it with electrons in about three hours.
Speaking of electric equipment, Caterpillar also brought out an electric drive mini excavator fitted with a jackhammer implement meant to show fleet buyers that their legacy Cat accessories would still work once they made the transition to electric – but note: Cat’s excavator isn’t fully electric.
Cat 301.9 electric mini excavator
Unlike the fully-electric equipment concepts shown by Doosan Bobcat and HD Hyundai, which use electric actuators and gears to move their boom arms, the Cat 301.9 uses an electric motor to power its wheels and accessories, but still relies on conventional hydraulic oils to manipulate its arm – and that can be a problem in cold climates.
“The electric motors don’t make as much heat as the diesels,” explained “Greg,” one the Caterpillar SMEs on the ground at CES2024. “So it can take a long time to warm up the hydraulics.”
This might seem like a rookie mistake, but Greg clarified, “These are still really new. The first two or three I drove were converted diesel units. This is one of the first ones that was built electric from the start.”
To Caterpillar’s credit, sticking to hydraulic operation will make it easier for operators familiar with Cats to switch to electric. The fact that the hydraulic accessories fleet operators already own will work with the new electric 301.9 also helps lower the EV’s barrier to entry.
The 301.9 mini excavator was displayed alongside its 48 volt on-board battery pack, which offers a total capacity of 32 kWh and delivers 3 hours’ of continuous runtime – which is just enough to handle a full working shift above ground.
Below ground, you’ll want something a little bigger.
Cat R1700 XE LHD underground loader
The crown jewel of Caterpillar’s CES exhibit this year was the massive Cat R1700 XE LHD underground loader. The R1700 XE LHD offers a whopping 16.5-ton payload and a top speed just over 11 mph – a nightmare-fast speed in the tight confines of a dark underground mine, the loader’s natural habitat.
The good news is that you won’t have your lungs getting choked out by diesel fumes while you try to escape from the big Cat, because this is the only underground loader in the industry powered by onboard battery that can charge in less than 20 minutes when it’s hooked up to two of the big Cat MEC500 chargers we talked about at the beginning of this article.
This is the first of this type of Cat battery packs, which the company claims are a modular design that will power future electric equipment models, as well as with factory integrated telematics and a structure durable to endure the challenges of the job site.
Electrek’s Take
Caterpillar isn’t the only heavy equipment OEM hard at work developing a total job site solution to keep its new EVs charged up – but it did a fantastic job convincing people at CES that they were, and I wanted one of the bright blue CAT trucker caps badly enough not to say anything about it to their face.
That said, I got the chance to have Volvo Penta’s Darren Tasker as a guest on The Heavy Equipment Podcast to talk about Volvo Penta’s efforts to bring more sustainable, lower emission energy to remote job sites. Trust that other companies in the space, surely, are doing the same.
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With a fully-enclosed, G-Wagen-inspired body and an 80 mile electric range, the Bodo G-Wagon golf cart is the NEV you need when you decide it’s time to get serous one-upping the rest of the Palm Beach country clubbers.
If you love the look of the $230,000 Mercedes-Benz G580 off-roader, but think the 579 hp, 6,800 lb. electric 4×4 is probably overkill for occasional trips to the golf course and country club, this G-Wagen-inspired golf cart might be just what you’re looking for.
The shiny black 2024 Bodo G-Wagon sold at Mecum Auctions last month for $31,900, which seems like it might not be a lot of money to the sort of person who decides to take a flyer on a goofy, limited-use EV that ships with real, metal doors, power windows, heating and air conditioning, fully digital instrument cluster and infotainment, and a “posh,” caramel leather interior.
It even has windshield wipers, power steering, and a rear-seat entertainment system that’s built into the front headrests!
It’s really nice in there
Under the hood, the Bodo packs a 15 kW (20 hp) electric motor drawing power from a 10 kWh li-ion battery that won’t deliver a scorching 0-60 mph time (it only goes 35), but will deliver you and your buddies from one end of any golf course in North America and back several times over, thanks to the G-Wagon’s 80 mile range.
The official Mecum Auctions listing goes into a bit more detail, and I’ve included it here, in case it gets deleted after a while and you’re just finding this for the first time in 2027:
Be the envy of any country club or golf community showing up with this 2024 Bodo G-Wagon Golf Cart. Perhaps more appropriately known as an E-Wagon, this baby G-Wagon is powered by a 15kW motor with a 10kWh lithium battery. Boasting an 80-mile range and a 35 MPH top speed, the Bodo is an enclosed, luxury golf cart that pampers occupants with heating and air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, power windows, power locks and a posh, caramel-colored interior. With the Bodo fitted with power steering and 4-wheel power disc brakes with brake boost, drivers will think they’re in a full-size G-Wagon, thanks to the multiscreen entertainment cluster, the rearview camera, windshield wipers, turn signals, running lights and so much more.
Finished in black with the right amount of brightwork, the overall vibe is one of jaw-dropping, smile-inducing fun. While the Bodo would be an excellent choice for any golf community, it should also prove to be hugely popular around a race track or car condo community as well, or maybe even a neighborhood with its own airplane runways. Over the past decade in particular, the demand for unique, luxury golf carts has been on the rise, and understandably so. The number of luxury communities with specific interests in sports, aero and auto has also been on the rise, with people buying homes in these exclusive locations to better engage with like-minded people. All too often a golf cart is the perfect way to get around these gated neighborhoods, and this one is enclosed, comes with the amenities of a full-size car and is infinitely more stylish.
You can check out a few more photos of the 2024 Bodo G-Wagon golf cart that sold at Mecum, below – and if you want one for yourself, you’re in luck! I found this brand-new 2025 “G600 E-Wagon” (in white) for $23,900 at Gulf Carts in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Head on down to the comments and let us know if you buy it.
G-Wagon golf cart gallery
SOURCE | LOTS MORE PHOTOS: Mecum Auctions.
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The Hyundai IONIQ 5 got a raft of upgrades and sporty, rally-focused XRT trim level for 2025 – but the biggest upgrade for the Made in America Hyundai might be this: the 5 has regained eligibility for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit!
Despite being assembled at Hyundai’s Georgia meta plant for the last four month, the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 was nowhere to be found on the EPA’s list of rebate-eligible vehicles. But that was then – with a fresh updated to the list coming online May 1st, Hyundai’s new-age electric hot hatch is back in the rebate game.
It’s worth noting that lease customers had been able to access the incentive under some circumstances, but this latest update to the EPA list makes it possible for cash and payment buyers to take advantage of the full Federal incentive, too – as long as they earn less than $300,000 as a married couple filing jointly, less than $225,000 as a head of household, or less than $150,000 as an individual.
With the $7,500 federal tax credit in the equation, you can get a new 2025 IONIQ 5 for somewhere in between $36,575 and $49,475, well under the $80,000 Federal MSRP cap.
Victory lap
As if to celebrate, Hyundai announced that it was taking on the celebrate One Lap of America road rayy and race event in a factory collaboration with the track-focused enthusiasts at Grassroots Motorsports this week with One Lap veterans Andy Hollis and Tom Suddard campaigning a stock, 601 hp 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 N in the Alternative Fuels class.
“After winning our class in a gutted, caged race car last year, we wanted to compete in the best-of-all worlds this year: A vehicle that’s incredibly fast, incredibly comfortable on a road trip, and incredibly capable on a racetrack,” explains Suddard. “Electrification means it’s finally possible to have huge power without huge compromises in a street car, and the IONIQ 5 N promises to pair that huge power with the durability and capability to survive a week of racing.”
One Lap is widely regarded as one of the toughest street-legal motorsports events in the world, pitting amateur and professional drivers alike compete in stock and heavily modified vehicles of every description, battling it out in a series of scored challenges, including timed events at road courses, drag strips, skid pads, and autocross courses.
In between tracks, competitors safely travel thousands of miles around the country, proving the mettle and durability of the vehicles and the teams that drive them. This year, 86 teams from all over the country will compete in 17 scored events over the course of eight days at tracks like Virginia International Raceway and NCM Motorsports Park.
The Tire Rack One Lap of America is currently underway – you can track the Hyundai’s progress here, then let us know what you think of this new tax development in the comments.
SOURCES | IMAGES: Hyundai, One Lap of America; FuelEconomy.gov.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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