ADAS, electric powertrain, IoT and Smart technologies rule the world of automobiles. These technologies are being adopted so fast that many experts from the domain have noted this trend as a ‘once in a century thing’. More and more passenger vehicles are being launched packed with ADAS. More and more two-wheelers are becoming electric. Electric three-wheeler sales in India, for the first time, have surpassed the sales of ICE three-wheelers.
However, a vertical of mobility is closely keeping an eye on all this action from the stands. The construction equipment segment, especially in India, seems to have no plan of introducing or betting upon many technologies to introduce increased technology-laced products in the country. Escorts Construction Equipment is one of the greatest examples of the same. Though the company is one among the largest exporters of electric tractors from India, it still does not sell electric tractors in the country.
In a conversation with Mobility Outlook, Sanjeev Bajaj, CE, Escorts Construction Equipment, “We were the first ones to launch an electric tractor commercially. Those are being exported in very good numbers. We can bring the same tech empowering construction equipment at any moment. We are working on the same and will launch when the time is right.”
As per the Business Research Company, the global autonomous construction equipment market reached a value of nearly $8.45 billion in 2020, having increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% since 2015. Furthermore, the market is expected to grow to $16.90 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 14.9%.
What’s On Offer Currently?
The likes of Escorts, CASE, ACE, Mahindra and many others are waiting for the right time to commercially launch advanced tech-enabled construction products in India. Most of these companies offer construction equipment featuring telematics. Telematics, in a nutshell, allow end-consumers to access and monitor data like health, performance, mileage and a few other things remotely. This data, at times, is also used by the OEM’s R&D team to plan and design better products.
Many construction equipment companies are focusing on the upcoming BS emissions norms, slated to come into effect from April 2024. The prices of the construction equipment are bound to go south once the new norms come into effect. The industry had witnessed a slowdown in sales when the last BS norms were implemented in 2021.
CASE, another giant in the CE industry, is not sure when it will be introducing advanced tech-enabled CE variants in India. Though the company is working on an electric powertrain and advanced connected features, at the moment, it is not sure when the launch of such products will happen in the country. However, it didn’t shy away from admitting that the future belongs to the electric powertrain, greener fuels and advanced tech.
Fabrizio Cepollina, Vice President, Construction Segment in Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific AME and APAC, CNH Industrial, told Mobility Outlook, “We want to equip all our products with connected features by the end of the second quarter this year. We would have already achieved the same if not for the CoronaVirus outbreak.”
ACE, the manufacturer of CE variants in the country, is yet to equip telematics in all the models it sells here. At this year’s EXCON, the company said that its focus was on equipping telematics to most of its products, and like most other OEMs, it is also gearing up for the new BS norms to kick in.
According to Manish Handa, Vice President & Business Head, Earth Moving & Road Construction Equipment Division, ACE, “There is a lot of time for the electric adoption to take place in the construction equipment industry. I think the same will first take place in the passenger vehicle segment and then come to the construction equipment industry. I do not see anything happening on this aspect in the construction equipment industry in the near future.”
It’s All About Consumer
Many of the companies Mobility Outlook spoke at the EXCON 2022 were of the view that they are, or will work, on feasible technologies for the end-consumer. Escorts, for instance, is currently busy testing a lot of technologies. In addition, the company shared that it will equip technologies that its customers want in the products.
“A lot of technologies get a little fancy at times. You can add a lot of electronics to construction equipment products and capture a lot of data. But the question is does your customer require the same?” noted Bajaj. He added, “Anything that can help my customer do his job better is the technology we will work on.” The company is currently testing telematics, remote options to control equipment, data to study and analyse machine and operator behaviour, and maintenance.
Sany India is one of the few OEMs with a clear plan for introducing electric CE in India. The company believes that electrification of the CE segment is an essential requirement for the industry. It claimed to have started testing electric technologies for excavators.
Dheeraj Panda, COO, Sany India, shared, “We will introduce electric excavators probably by the end of this year or beginning of the next year. Sany has started work on remote controlled excavators, electric trucks, electric forklifts and lots of other exciting technologies.”
BS-IV to BS-V migration, at the moment, looks a bigger nut to crack for the CE OEMs than most other technologies. Mahindra & Mahindra also has no immediate plans for the electrification of construction equipment vehicles it offers in India.
Jalaj Gupta, Business Head, Commercial Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “The challenge for the manufacturer will be the technological shift, but the challenge for the end consumer will be a bigger one. He has already made changes for migrating to BS-IV last year, and two years from now (April 2024), he will have to shift to BS-V.”