However, battery technologies—and, specifically, the search for the most suitable technologies for each machine—will be fundamental to ensuring the success of electrification and its widespread adoption in the market. The recently updated IDTechEx report, "Batteries for Construction, Agriculture, and Mining Machinery 2026–2036: Technologies, Players, Forecasts," details the key factors that will influence battery design and selection, enabling optimized machine performance and development and facilitating the growth of the off-highway machinery battery market to exceed 45 GWh by 2036.
Why are electric off-road vehicles being developed?
With a growing push towards decarbonization and sustainability across all sectors globally, the off-road markets of construction, agriculture, and mining are experiencing increased interest and investment in electrification. Electric machinery can eliminate local greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a cleaner and safer workplace that also benefits from reduced heat, noise, and vibration.
Essentially, electric machines also have significantly lower operating expenses (OPEX) by using electricity instead of diesel. This helps to offer a more favorable total cost of ownership (TCO) for the machines, while also protecting against the risk of diesel price volatility. As an added benefit, electric machines are easier to operate, less expensive to maintain, and do not consume energy while idling or stopped, offering additional operational advantages in addition to the environmental and financial benefits.
Different off-road vehicles have different requirements
For an electric off-road machine to replace a diesel machine, it must meet the same performance requirements in terms of range and operating intensity. The wide variety of machines used in construction, agriculture, and mining have different applications and operating profiles, creating the need for a wide variety of batteries. Ultimately, the size of the batteries installed will depend on the machine's operating weight, the desired runtime, and the specific service requirements during operation.
The mining industry uses machines that weigh hundreds of tons, often hauling equally heavy loads. These machines must operate virtually around the clock, with very little downtime available for refueling or recharging. This has led to the use of some of the largest batteries in today's off-road machines, recently reaching up to 2 MWh. This contrasts sharply with the construction and agricultural markets, where machines are generally much smaller and only need to operate for up to 8 hours a day, using batteries as small as 10 kWh in compact machines weighing 6 tons or less.
Finding the right battery for a construction machine
Beyond mere battery capacity, a machine's operating requirements will impose certain demands on the battery's density, voltage, charging performance, lifespan, and cost. The battery technology ultimately used (which could be NMC, LFP, or an emerging chemistry) must strike the right balance between these criteria to enable successful electrification.
Some operational requirements are specific to a particular sector. For example, mining machinery must not only operate almost 24/7, but also in all weather conditions. Therefore, batteries for these machines will require long lifecycles for continuous use, very fast charging speeds to minimize downtime, and excellent performance in low temperatures. Meanwhile, agricultural machinery must pull heavy tools and implements across large areas, requiring batteries with high power density.
However, the new IDTechEx report reveals that machine size also plays a key role in determining battery type, influencing the cost-to-energy-density trade-off.
Smaller machines have more limitations in terms of available battery space, requiring high-energy-density batteries that can provide sufficient capacity and runtime while remaining compatible with the machine's compact size. Larger machines, on the other hand, are less constrained by size or weight. However, due to their need for higher battery capacities, a low-cost-per-kWh battery is preferred to help minimize overall machine costs, even if this means sacrificing energy density.
Author: Pranav Jaswani, Senior Technology Analyst
