China is here: SANY electric excavator arrives in the West

The SANY SY215E electric excavator is the brand’s first medium-sized electric excavator to be marketed outside China. The company chose the Netherlands – known for its pioneering attitudes when it comes to electric equipment – for the first stop on its European tour.

The SANY prototype arrived in the Netherlands earlier this summer, where it garnered significant interest among the more than 200 customers SANY demo’ed it for, resulting in “dozens of pre-sale orders,” according to the company’s official release.

With a gross vehicle weight of 232,000 kg (511,500 lbs.), the SY215E features a maximum digging height of 9,6 m and a maximum digging depth of 6.25 m. More than big enough, in other words, to move mountains of earth in quiet, vibration-free serenity.

The SANY SY215E excavator is available in 600 mm, 700 mm, 800 mm, and 900 mm tracks, and promises significant cost savings, safety, and performance that’s even better than comparably sized diesel excavators.

Double guns

The SANY also boasts a 422 kWh battery it says is good for more than 7 hours of continuous operation, while the high-power, “dual gun” fast charge system (similar to an early Chevy Silverado patent) helps it achieve a full charge in just 70 minutes.

Those claims from SANY work out to something like a 350 kW charging speed, by my math – but someone smarter than me will have to confirm that.

Electrek’s Take

If you’re not familiar with SANY, you should be. The company is a major player in the Chinese heavy equipment space, and they have genuine global ambitions with not just their electric off-road equipment assets, but on road trucks as well.

In their own words:

As a global leader in construction engineering, SANY is dedicated to delivering high-quality products and services. In response to the global energy shortage, SANY has long embraced energy-saving and emission reduction initiatives, focusing on electrification. In 2023, SANY introduced over 40 new electric products, achieving sales revenue of $449.4 million USD. SANY remains committed to innovation and supporting the energy transition in Europe with the best products, services, and support.

SANY GLOBAL

$449.4 million may not be at the same multibillion level as Caterpillar or Volvo, but it’s certainly not nothing. And it seems like there’s a lot more to come. Watch this space.