Just weeks after its official unveiling, CNH inaugurated a new production line for the company’s first-ever, all-electric compact wheel loader. The new line will produce the machines for international markets under both the CASE (C) and New Holland (NH) brands.
The new line is part of CNH’s existing Lecce, Italy plant, which occupies 600,000 square meters of space and (now) houses 7 product lines for 203 models and 4896 different configurations of wheel loaders, compact wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, telehandlers, and motor graders.
The new CASE and New Holland electric loaders join two mini electric excavators produced in Cesena in the company’s rapidly growing BEV lineup – which is critical to meet the demand for alternative powertrains that’s being driven by Europe’s growing list of “low-emission zones” and increasingly strict noise regulations. Other new requirements from agriculture sectors and livestock farming are also driving CNH to invest in new ZEVs.
“This industrial complex has long been a reference point for many companies in Salento, which benefit from the allied industries linked to production and is also an important pole in terms of employment,” says Alessandro Delli Noci, Councillor for Economic Development of the Region Puglia (where the Lecce plant is located). “We are happy that CNH continues to believe and invest in this important reality with products and projects of high technological content.”
CASE showed the new electric wheel loader at major international trade fairs such as ConEXPO in Las Vegas, Agritechnica in Hanover, and a full-on “UK Roadshow” earlier this year, where it claimed 4-6 hours of continuous use from the 23 kWh battery. Overnight recharging can be accomplished with the standard L2 on-board charger or in less than 1 hour on a DCFC, “thus enabling continuous use throughout the working day,” according to CNH.
Electrek’s Take
Despite early criticism from the BEV absolutists for its push to develop methane-based combustion engines and fuel cells, CNH has read the tea leaves correctly and begun taking electric vehicles seriously. Which is a good thing, because there is a construction boom everywhere.
Production volumes have grown exponentially, marking an 88% increase between 2020 and 2022 and a further 14% in 2023, the year that recorded the highest number of machines produced since its foundation. The new line for electric machinery is part of a €13 million investment (part of the Converto project) that was co-financed by the Region of Puglia. That investment enabled the installation of a new coating plant and a new plasma cutting machine, which will service the new electric wheel loaders.
CNH has also invested in the construction of new rooms for testing electrified vehicles, ensuring that customers can continue operating in extreme climatic conditions (-50° to +50° C).
SOURCE | IMAGES: CNH.