Caterpillar and Flory Industries report successful tests of electrified powertrain prototype
Caterpillar announced the results of its prototype demonstration project for a battery-powered field elevator with Flory Industries, a company active in the production of nut-harvesting equipment. The field test successfully showed how a 600-volt battery-powered powertrain can deliver the performance provided in this application by a conventional 74-horsepower diesel engine.
Caterpillar announced the results of its prototype demonstration project for a battery-powered field elevator with Flory Industries, a company active in the production of nut-harvesting equipment.
Completed during the fall harvest season in the Central Valley region of California, USA, the field test successfully showed how a 600-volt battery-powered powertrain can deliver the performance, reliability and durability currently provided in this application by a conventional 74-horsepower diesel engine while reducing maintenance and operating with zero tailpipe emissions.
Supported by Holt of California, the local Cat dealer, the prototype was tested over seven weeks in the almond and walnut orchards in California, with one site being Heinrich Farms, a 1,200-acre crop farm based in Modesto. Here, the unit operated an entire 10-hour workday on a single charge, loading 422,000 lbs. of nuts into trailers throughout the test.
To overcome the constraints of being off-grid, Heinrich Farms fully recharged the electrified field elevator overnight during non-working hours using the Cat XES60 Compact ESS mobile battery energy storage system, which provides up to 56.8 kWh of capacity.
“The electrified field elevator from Flory was reliable and unloaded our harvest as fast as conventional equipment powered by diesel engines while generating far less noise,” said Jerad Heinrich, orchard manager for Heinrich Farms. “It lasted an entire day of work without stopping for a recharge, and we’re eager to use it again for our next harvest as the technology continues to progress.”
The project was the first presentation of a prototype machine by a third-party original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) using Caterpillar’s battery-powered solution. Based on the positive results of the demonstration, Flory plans to offer pilot units to select customers later this year, with full production expected in 2026.
“The elevator is a perfect application for electrified machines since it sits idle for most of the workday,” said Tyler Hupp, product development manager for Flory Industries. “This collaboration was an opportunity to show our commitment to delivering advanced technologies to our customers that improve performance sustainably.”
Field elevators powered by diesel engines spend about 80% of their duty cycles at low idle in between loads, which accounts for about 45% of their total fuel consumption. These long periods of non-productive operation interspersed with the need for instantaneous power make the elevator an ideal target for electrification.
“We’ve gained valuable insights from working with Flory to apply our knowledge of electrification and high-voltage systems to the challenging environments of working California farms,” said Steve Ferguson, senior vice president of Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems. “This project demonstrated how Caterpillar is successfully aligning with fellow innovators to develop technologies that maximize the performance and reliability of electrified machines at real-world worksites. Caterpillar can provide customers with access to the full ecosystem of components to insights and the charging infrastructure.
