Corn茅 Timmermans, vice president sales and marketing, Europe, Africa, Middle East and CIS (Image: Caterpillar)

For the construction equipment industry, battery electric machines have been one of the hottest topics of the last few years. A whole host of OEMs have introduced battery electric excavators, wheeled loaders and other products, some with prototypes and others with commercially available machines.

Battery electric is one way for the construction industry to reduce its emissions but it is only one way 鈥� the industry is actively implementing a whole host of measures for its machines and operators to be more productive (and thus sustainable). At the same time, the diesel engines that power the equipment are cleaner than ever before and burn less fuel. It begs the question: is there too much focus on electric equipment and not enough on the other steps the industry is taking?

鈥淵es, absolutely. That鈥檚 also one of the things that we keep reminding our customers about; it鈥檚 not all about battery electric or hydrogen, there鈥檚 a number of things that can be done today to reduce CO2 emissions,鈥� comments Corn茅 Timmermans vice president sales and marketing, Europe, Africa, Middle East and CIS at Caterpillar.

鈥淲e pride ourselves on fuel-efficient machines. If you have an eight-year-old machine and you buy a new one, the advancements we鈥檝e made with our engines, drivetrains and hydraulics mean that you are going to burn less fuel and reduce your emissions.鈥�

Dutch-born Timmermans is speaking to International Construction at Caterpillar鈥檚 press event at a gloriously sun-soaked Malaga in Spain. The event was held for the first time in six years and occurred with the backdrop of the company celebrating its 100-year anniversary.

Talking more about these alterative power options he says, 鈥淧eople always jump to the shiny new toy that might be out there. We鈥檙e trying to educate not only our customers, but also our dealers, that there are effective solutions today rather than trying to say, 鈥榦kay, how can I get my hands on a battery electric or a hydrogen machine.鈥欌��

Knowledge (data) is power

Technology is a major theme of the event, in particular the role it can play in helping the sector address its sustainability and skills shortage challenges. Every Caterpillar machine that leaves the factory is equipped with Product Link, a hardware that allows a customer to access software called VisionLink. This software provides a whole host of data: idle times, fuel burning, location of machines, how that machine is operated, and more 鈥� this data can be used to boost efficiency.

鈥淰isionLink is standard on every machine around the world. It helps customers to more efficiently manage their machines by understanding what it鈥檚 doing and what it鈥檚 not doing,鈥� says Timmermans.

He reveals that he has recently spoken to customers in Africa and the Middle East who have found the technology extremely useful, especially given how remote some of their sites are. 鈥淭hose customers really value the information that they can get through VisionLink because they can鈥檛 necessarily just drive down the road and see what their machine is doing or have people on site. Sites might be four, five, six hours away in the middle of the desert or jungle.

鈥淔or them it鈥檚 been an eye-opener, even talking about basic things like running hours, location and idle time. Because who is going to tell them what their operator is doing sitting in the middle of the desert, whether he鈥檚 working or not, what type of work is the machine doing? We鈥檙e seeing a lot of adoption.鈥�

Different power solutions

Caterpillar, the world鈥檚 largest OEM by sales, has been on the periphery of conversations regarding electric powered equipment, with the US-based giant initially showing some electric prototypes before announcing the commercial availability of the 301.9 electric mini excavator and the 906 wheeled loader to select Cat dealer rental fleets.

The OEM is moving forward with electric equipment at a quicker pace now while also keeping its options open for other power sources and emphasising the sustainability benefits that increased productivity and efficiency brings.

鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret that there are lots of different paths forward. We are definitely not placing our bet on one solution. We are looking at all the alternatives that are available. Right now, we are introducing our battery electric machines because, at this point in time, we think that is a viable solution. It doesn鈥檛 mean that it鈥檚 not going to change later on.鈥�

One of the biggest issues with electric equipment is how these machines get charged, what the available infrastructure is. Timmermans says that this is something Caterpillar is acutely aware of.

During the press event in Malaga operating equipment using Cat Command remote control was demonstrated (Image: Caterpillar)

鈥淲e don鈥檛 necessarily want to just sell a battery electric machine to a customer because we think the experience is not going to be great if we let the customer figure out how to make that work on the job site. Getting the machine to work and getting the energy on site and the charging done is one thing, but how does it fit in the rest of your operation if you have multiple machines doing different tasks?鈥� he comments.

鈥淲e have a very large energy and transportation organisation; we can provide a lot of those energy solutions on site for the customer. Understanding exactly what is required for those customers and how to best provide energy to decide how to charge the equipment, that is the total experience you want to give to the customer and not necessarily satisfy a sale of a machine. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e doing all this learning today, with a number of customers at select territories in Europe and in the US today 鈥� to learn what is required.鈥�

2025 marks Caterpillar鈥檚 100th anniversary and the OEM has numerous events planned for the year, including at Bauma Munich, which Timmermans refers to as a 鈥渇antastic podium鈥� for the company to showcase its products and technology.

Timmermans himself has been at Caterpillar for almost 30 years, starting in 1996 straight out of university where he graduated as a mining engineer. He says that the future of the company is more technology focused.

鈥淲hen we did our last event here Cat Command was relatively new, now it鈥檚 really catching on. I hope in five years from now, there鈥檚 going to be some of those technologies that we鈥檙e talking about, operator coaching for example, used more widely,鈥� he says.

鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure that in five years from now, we probably see some of the autonomous solutions from the mining industry come down into the construction industry. We鈥檙e taking it now into the quarry business, which is one step, with the announcement of what we are doing with customers like Luck Stone. The next step is how we鈥檙e going to see that happening in construction.鈥�

He adds that this tech will serve as a way for them to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers. 鈥淚n terms of differentiation versus competitors, it鈥檚 always an interesting debate, what sets you apart from your competitors.

鈥淚 think it comes back to that focus on the technology, services and the added value that sets us apart. Our dealer organisation is one of our competitive advantages, the alignment that we have with our dealers as to how we take our products and services to market. We can provide customers more than just machines.鈥�

How those machines will be powered, and what tech they have will, no doubt, look quite different ten years from now. How they will look a hundred years on, when Caterpillar celebrates its next centenary, is impossible to say, but fascinating to think about.