CASE introduces the industry’s first electric backhoe loader

CASE evolves its electric backhoe concept 

The new CASE 580EV electric backhoe loader has the same loading and digging specifications and delivers the same breakout forces as the four-wheel-drive, 97-hp CASE 580SN diesel model. 

The company has made significant changes to the electric backhoe since revealing the original EV concept, Project Zeus, at CONEXPO 2020. That concept was based on CASE’s 580NEP model. According to George MacIntyre, product manager for backhoe loaders, the NEP backhoe is a lower volume model that is targeted at the rental market.

“We decided to go with our most popular model, which is the 580 Super N, which is in the heart of where the volumes are in backhoe sales,” MacIntyre says. “We didn’t step it up all the way to our 590 series because we also wanted to keep the weight within a reasonable amount for a backhoe. Everyone knows that with EV machines, the more weight you have on there, you’re going to have more energy consumption because you just have more that you have to move. So it was an easy decision for us because the 580SN is our most popular model.”

CASE took customer feedback from the Project Zeus model and optimized everything from thermal management to operator controls in order to electrify a machine with comparable specs to the 580SN. New features include an 8-inch colour display, air conditioning, a front-dash display, and adjustable four-corner, multicoloured LED strobe lights.

Powered by a 400-volt, 71-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery platform that’s charged with the same type of Level 2 J1772 adapter found in automotive EVs, it can deliver up to eight hours of operational run time on a single charge, depending on the application. The battery platform also uses an advanced thermal management system with system-specific cooling circuits to better regulate temperatures and help maintain performance in hot or cold conditions.