Caterpillar unveils off-highway equipment batteries

As part of Caterpillar’s strategy to support customers during the energy transition to a lower-carbon future, it has announced the development of 48-, 300- and 600-volt batteries for the off-highway equipment industry. Leveraging expertise across its global network of technical centers in the U.S., U.K., China and India, the program focuses initially on battery solutions for equipment used in industrial applications.

Caterpillar’s new 600 volt lithium-ion battery. (Photo: Caterpillar)

“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.”

The battery range uses lithium-ion technology and features a modular design to optimize performance and packaging for third-party original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), said the company, and they have been engineered with sustainability in mind throughout their lifecycle, with the potential to reuse and recycle at the end of life.

The company’s development program also includes inverters, motors, electronic controls, digital services and other technologies.

Caterpillar has previously committed to ensuring that 100% of its new products through 2030 will be more sustainable than the previous generation, which the company has said is reflected in its 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 plans showcase prototypes of its battery technologies in Hall A4, Stand 336 at Bauma 2022, which will be held October 24-30 in Munich, Germany.