Caterpillar Unveils Off-Highway Equipment Prototype Batteries

As part of an enterprise strategy to support customers during the energy transition to a lower-carbon future, Caterpillar announced the development of 48-volt, 300-volt, and 600-volt batteries for the off-highway industry.

“Caterpillar has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to sustainability through improvements in our operations and by helping our customers achieve their climate-related goals,” said Steve Ferguson, senior vice president Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems. “Today’s announcement of our battery program is our latest step in combining a wide-ranging inventory of innovations with extensive knowledge of the off-highway industry to offer solutions for a range of power needs, application types, duty cycles and operating environments.”

During a live webinar event with the OEM Off-Highway team on October 4, 2022, experts from Caterpillar detailed trends around sustainable solutions for low-carbon equipment. These solutions spanned its Stage V and Tier 4 Final engines, alternative fuels, connectivity and telematics and remanufacturing and rebuilding equipment. Now, electric batteries are part of that mix.

Battery Development

Leveraging expertise across Caterpillar’s global network of technical centers in the U.S., U.K., China and India, the program focuses initially on battery solutions for equipment used predominantly in industrial applications.

The battery range uses lithium-ion technology and features a modular design to optimize performance and packaging. Furthermore, they have been engineered with sustainability in mind throughout their life cycle, with the potential to reuse and recycle at the end of life.

The development program also encompasses inverters, motors, electronic controls, digital services and other critical technologies to deliver the performance, reliability, durability, maintainability, and long-term value needed for equipment buyers working in harsh operating environments.Caterpillar Inc.

Commitment to Sustainability

Caterpillar has committed that 100% of its new products through 2030 will be more sustainable than the previous generation, which is reflected in Caterpillar’s lineup of industrial-power solutions and integrated services finely tuned for owners of third-party equipment powered by Cat® engines.

“Improved sustainability is a journey, not a destination, and one size doesn’t fit all in determining the appropriate power solution for equipment owners,” Ferguson said. “Our offerings can help customers and end users start improving the sustainability of their operations today through high-efficiency engines, fuels and digital solutions now available for the jobsite, by extending value and reducing waste over the lifecycle of equipment they already own, and by powering the next generation of equipment with innovations precisely configured for the jobsite.”

Caterpillar will showcase prototypes of its battery technologies in Hall A4, Stand 336 at bauma 2022, October 24-30 in Munich, Germany. Learn more from the full press release.