Industry first: CASE introduces new 580EV electric backhoe

CASE is giving construction fleets more ways to meet ever-tightening emissions and noise regulations with the world’s first electric backhoe. Meet the CASE 580EV.

The new CASE 580EV electric backhoe loader carries over the same dimensional loading, digging specifications, and breakout forces as the popular, four-wheel-drive, diesel-powered 580SN, but it swaps the 97 hp combustion engine and fuel tank for an 80 kW electric drive motor backed by a 400-volt, 71 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

Operators already familiar with the CASE 580SN will find the new 580EV familiar enough to operate. It uses two independent electric motors for the PowerDrive transmission and hydraulic pumps feeding the loader, backhoe and steering systems to minimize energy consumption and improve performance in loading applications, while CASE features like ProControl swing dampening, PowerLift/PowerBoost and electro-hydraulic controls improve precision and ease of use on the job site.

CASE 580EV

Parent company CNH understands that electric equipment empowers work crews, giving them zero-emissions, low-noise solutions the expand the types of jobs and job sites they can operate on. From overnight construction to work in urban centers or even indoors, the expanding lineup of CASE EVs offer power and performance that’s at least on par with their diesel counterparts while delivering unique advantages the ICE machines just can’t match – and the same is true with their new 580EV; which the company claims is the world’s first production-ready electric backhoe.

“Designing this machine from day one as a purpose-built EV instead of a retrofit has enabled a slew of practical innovations that will positively change the mindset for teams considering EV equipment,” explains Brad Stemper, product management lead, North America, CASE. “We looked at every aspect of the machine and enhanced power consumption throughout to deliver exceptional EV performance that operators will see and feel when digging, loading, or moving dirt.”

The new CASE 580EV electric backhoe will be joined by two more all-electric equipment options in the coming months, rounding out the CASE EV production lineup with a total of five machines by the end of 2024.

Electrek’s Take

Heavy equipment operations are all about ROI. If there’s a return on investment from electrifying, they’ll electrify. CASE, absolutely gets it – as evidence, I present this line, from CASE’ own website.

You’ll see that once you start crunching the numbers on the amount of service cost and service downtime it saves you. Because there’s no internal combustion engine to service. This is a key benefit of EV, and something you should be sure not to overlook when you’re calculating the total cost of ownership for this machine.

CASE WEBSITE

All that’s left to do now is for Jon and Mike up there in fleet to plug the 580EV’s specs into their spreadsheets and see what gets spit out. My reasonably educated guess, though? I think CASE is gonna sell a ton of these.

SOURCE | IMAGES: CNH.