Yanmar at bauma 2022: the electrification strategy

At bauma 2022 Yanmar will introduce its electrification strategy for off-road vehicles and equipment, showcasing its off-road product portfolio, commitment to customer lifecycle value and future vision for industrial equipment including the following highlights: the electrification strategy for e-powertrains; the electric equipment demonstrator; the Yanmar/Eleo modular, high-density battery system; and the extended 5-year warranty for TN Series engines.

Yanmar will establish itself as the all-in-one systems integrator for smart electrified power solutions tailored to the application-specific needs of individual OEMs. In its capacity as a systems integrator, Yanmar will implement system engineering, design and manufacturing of e-powertrains, while also providing control development, system evaluation, procurement, manufacturing and quality assurance. As Yanmar transitions to an advanced supplier of electrified solutions, the company remains true to its core values of durability, reliability, quality and robustness, together with the commitment to be a reliable and trusted partner for customers – values the company has lived by for more than 110 years.

Tomohisa Tao, President Yanmar Power Technology says: “As Yanmar looks to meet the challenges of the coming century, our transformation will encompass new products with alternative fuel technologies. Our aim, together with our dealers and OEM partners, in this strategy is to build stronger relationships and create even greater customer value with new-energy technology. We will work hard to support our OEM partners and customers to achieve their environmental and performance goals.”

At bauma 2022, Yanmar will show an electrified demonstration vehicle that shows the practical application of the company’s system integrator technologies. Powered by an efficient electric drive and hard working 48-volt batteries with fast charging capability, the electric excavator is a quiet, zero-emission machine designed to meet the most demanding emissions restrictions. The machine is an example of Yanmar’s system integrator applications technology, integrating power and control systems with advanced applications management in a versatile and easy to use machine.

Another important milestone for realizing the urgent environmental challenges that we must overcome is Yanmar’s acquisition of battery-technology company Eleo, a fast-growing developer and manufacturer of high-performance modular battery systems. This acquisition will further Yanmar’s electrified powertrain capabilities with versatile, customized solutions for off-road applications. Eleo is building a new battery production plant, increasing its annual battery production capacity tenfold to 500MWh – equivalent of approximately 10,000 battery packs.

Last but not least, the launch of the new 5-year warranty (or 5,000 hours) further enhances sustainability and extended ownership of the current line-up of clean diesel solutions during the transformation to carbon-neutral power solutions. This extended warranty is free of charge and valid for TN Series engines sold in Europe and operating on European territory.

Carlo Giudici, Director Industrial EMEA at Yanmar Europe, says: “Yanmar sets a new benchmark by being the first to offer a complimentary 5-year warranty for off-road vehicles. It emphasizes the strong quality and reliability of our engines and is another important step to offering customers problem-free, sustainable ownership and higher resale value.”

From the development of new energy sources for customers and industry, to working towards a sustainable future and zero emissions from its headquarters and facilities, Yanmar is undertaking a range of activities in pursuit of a sustainable society. The company has already embarked on several new-energy projects in various business lines, including hydrogen-powered cogeneration, research into hydrogen fuel marine engines, bio-gas cogeneration, dual-fuel power solutions with natural gas, fuel cell marine technology, smart agriculture, and resource recycling technologies.

Yanmar ’s strategy at bauma

“At the next Bauma – they say in Yanmar – we are going to introduce Yanmar’s carbon neutral electrification strategy. In April Yanmar officially announced the acquisition of a majority share in Eleo Technologies, a fast-growing battery technology company based in the Netherlands. The highly modular high-density battery is the core components of the electrification for many applications but of course not the only one, so Yanmar does not necessarily aims to sell only the batteries but to take a role of a system integrator for diesel powertrains and e-powertrains. The OEMs are already designing electrified or electric machines. With our new products and our new strategy we aim to play a crucial role in their process.”

Are we really ready for electrification in construction above 56 kW?

With this new product we are as ready as already several machines being electrified. This product is already in production and we are building a production site in the Netherlands that will be ready at the end of this year with a high capacity of producing these batteries, so talking about readiness our strategy is not based only on a certain idea, but it’s actually already in progress.

When I see a ship powered by Yanmar with something that is not an internal combustion engine I think immediately to hydrogen. What about hydrogenization?

We have been running hydrogen tests. We have conducted the world’s first 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen refueling of a ship using a demonstration test boat equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell system. The test boat cruised on a route around the island of the Osaka-Kansai World Exposition 2025 and famous tourist spots on the city’s coast. The hydrogen refueling was carried out in cooperation with Toyota Tsusho Corporation, using a specially licensed high-pressure facility and a newly developed prototype long hydrogen refueling hose.

Yanmar invested a lot in order to get the fuel cleaner, in particular in the regeneration of the filters et cetera. What’s the next future of diesel engines? 

I think that diesel engines will remain of course part of our strategy, but in order to meet the customer needs we also have a second strategy with electrification. OEMs are starting to produce electrified smaller machines, but mid-size and larger machines will come at a later stage.