United Tractors Tbk’s heavy equipment distributor is still testing the implementation of electrification on heavy equipment and has no plans to market electrification products in the near future.
The Company Secretary of PT United Tractors, Sara K. Loebis, stated that the company introduced an excavator last year and plans to test the heavy equipment this year.
“Electrification is not happening yet, because it is still in the trial phase. Last year at the Mining Expo, we introduced an electric excavator, but it was really new for us. This year, we plan to trial it with customers,” she said in Jakarta on Friday.
Sara mentioned that the company can only market the product widely after the electric excavator trial phase is completed.
Currently, United Tractors is focusing on selling small and medium-sized excavators with hybrid technology.
The key factor in selling electric heavy equipment, including hybrid technology, according to Sara, is the level of consumer demand.
“Are customers willing to use hybrids? Because it adds value to their reputation as environmentally friendly. If yes, we are ready for this, but if not, we provide conventional ones,” she said.
She also mentioned that the nickel mining industry is among the interested parties in environmentally friendly hybrid heavy equipment.
PT United Tractors Tbk introduced the New 20 Ton Class Electric Excavator product that utilizes energy sources from electric batteries at the Mining Indonesia 2023 exhibition.
The energy in the electric excavator is stored in batteries that receive power from an external source such as the state electricity company PLN or a generator.