Hitachi forms electric digger JV

The new company, EAC European Application Center GmbH, based in Stockstadt am Rhein in Hessen, combines Hitachi’s technology with Kiesel’s local market knowledge.

The venture is 49.9% owned by Hitachi Construction Machinery and 50.1% by Kiesel Technologie Entwicklung GmbH (KTEG).

Hitachi has previously developed electric machinery and for special applications, but this represents a new push in Europe, where there are some of the strictest emissions regulations in the world.

Hitachi Construction Machinery has delivered more than 100 wired electric excavators to date, mostly in Japan, and it has supplied wired electric ultra-large hydraulic excavators to mines.  It has also previously made battery-powered excavators, starting with the ZX70B back in 2006.

For its part, KTEG has developed large demolition specification equipment and other special application products based on Hitachi excavators.

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