Your Questions Answered: Why Compact Equipment Will Lead The Early Adoption Of Electrification

Equipment manufacturers must demonstrate the problems they are solving with electrified equipment. During the 2024 OEM Industry Summit, Nick Moore, director of product management for electrification at Briggs & Stratton (Vanguard), explored the transformative impact of electrification on the compact equipment sector and highlighted technological advancements, operational benefits, and environmental advantages in the webinar "Why Compact Equipment Will Lead The Early Adoption Of Electrification."

Register here to watch the webinar on-demand.

Moore answered additional questions not addressed during the webinar.

Question: How important are governmental incentives? What could or should air quality agencies be doing to help get manufacturers and fleets to advance their adoption of electric equipment?

Moore: Unfortunately, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are only interested in the financials, not necessarily doing the right thing for the environment. Therefore, the more incentives there are, the easier it is for the end purchasers to understand the total cost of ownership and likely see the return on investment (ROI) they need to make the switch in a shorter timeframe. We would love the help of agencies to push like we are to ensure OEMs and users are looking at the total cost of ownership (TCO), not just the initial sell price. We would be happy to discuss how we can work together on this.

Question: Have the relevant safety authorities given recognition to any safety considerations for using electric equipment such as increased safety, less hearing loss, less vibration impacts and more?

Moore: We are unaware of OSHA or others utilizing the benefits to help spread the message, but it would make a ton of sense to do so. It would be great for them to help share not just that this helps be more under established limits, but gives operators an even better experience which likely pushes better operator performance and longevity.

Question: Do you see the more electrified machines and vehicles is also driving the need for data so connected machines?

Moore: Absolutely. With the electrified components making it so much easier to share data, doing so can help users become more efficient.

Question: When does Vanguard anticipate semi-solid-state or solid-state batteries to reach the market, and is the company investing in research and development?

Moore: We are not a cell manufacturer, but we work closely with many and have our own testing facility where we validate suppliers' cells. No one has production intent cells available for us to test yet, so most efforts are not yet ready for high volume manufacturing. We are excited for that to progress and be able to look to have that technology in our battery packs.

Question: We are really interested in the swappable battery tech. Do you have any demo projects and have reports of them?

Moore: We will be looking to publish some case studies, but we have dozens of OEMs that have been testing, some having launched in production, different equipment using this battery. We have seen many benefits to many different machines.

Question: Are you looking at larger battery solutions?

Moore: Our packs are all able to be paralleled, which allows for up to 70 kWh in a single system. We have made 96 V prototypes and have actively been looking into the market there to understand the business case, but would love to hear from OEMs what they are looking for.

Question: How much does the battery pack of 48V 1.5kWh weigh?

Moore: The Vanguard 48V 1.5kWh Commercial Battery is 26 lbs. or 11.7 kg.

Question: When do you expect improved battery cell production here in the U.S.?  

Moore: Currently, all the efforts for cell production are joint ventures with automotive companies. Once those come online, it will be interesting to see if there is excess capacity for the broader market, or if it pushes cell manufacturers to expand.

Question: What other states are taking similar zero emission policies forward (similar to California) in this product form/size arena?

Moore: We are unaware of entire states, but more smaller municipalities are taking action.

Question: Does Vanguard sell battery packs with different chemistries that can provide different benefits for certain applications? For example: LFP for more durability, NMC for high energy or LTO for fast charging?

Moore: Currently, all Vanguard packs utilize NMC. That said, we're constantly evaluating other options both for our standard product lineup, as well as for the right opportunities we do look at custom options for OEMs where there is a business case for the activity.