Electric Off-highway Equipment/Machinery Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The electric off-highway equipment/machinery market was valued at USD 10.49 billion in 2021 and is expected to surpass a net valuation of USD 17.50 billion by 2027 end, registering a solid CAGR growth of 8.76% over the forecast period.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many industries across the globe, including construction and mining witnessed a slump in investment in 2020. This came after government strict measures prevailed to restrain the spread of infection. In addition, with lockdown measures across the globe, the construction industry witnessed a decline in its overall throughput which ultimately affected the demand for electric off-highway equipment/machinery.

Moreover, post-COVID-19, 2021 was marked as a year of transition, and growth is expected during 2022 attributed to the increasing investments and multiple construction projects including road, mining, infrastructure etc.

Electrically propelled off-highway vehicles offer various advantages, such as high overall efficiency, high manoeuvrability, and accuracy during operations. Although the electrification of off-highway vehicles has many advantages, its adoption in the industry is expected to be slow-paced, due to various technological factors, such as the limited storage capacity of the batteries.

Owing to the shortcomings of electrically propelled off-highway vehicles, the usage of hybrid off-highway vehicles is currently considered as a viable option, although the growth of the hybrid off-road vehicles market is restrained by high costs of development. Electrification of powertrains of off-highway vehicles (such as construction and mining machinery) has been in focus, owing to the concerns of emissions and noises generated by conventional diesel-powered machinery.

Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the epicentre for ongoing demand of the electric off-highway equipment. This is attributed to large scale construction, mining and infrastructure development projects which are under the pipeline in the region. In addition, major players in the region have increased their R&D expenditure exponentially, to integrate innovation with excellence in performance. The demand for high performance, highly efficient, and safe handling equipment from the end market is expected to make the market more competitive over the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

Hybrid Off-highway Equipment/Machinery Holds Highest Market Share

Globally increasing carbon emissions and climate change have come up as a potential challenge for governing bodies of major developed and developing countries. The transportation sector holds a major contribution to greenhouse effects, accounting for around 24% of global Co2 emissions. In concern to minimalize the carbon emission from the transportation sector, technologies of low-carbon emission or zero carbon emission are required to be deployed at a vast scale.

In context to zero carbon emission technologies, alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) offer significant energy sustainable transportation and came up as a potential innovation to address the issue. With the introduction of stringent emission regulations by several governments across the world, the demand for hybrid off-highway equipment/machinery has been growing and further driving manufacturers to launch environment-friendly machinery.

Off-highway equipment/machinery has been majorly adopting hybrid engine (i.e., diesel-electric) for the propulsion system. These diesel-electric hybrid drive systems allow to run with a slightly smaller engine at a lower rpm. This translates into fuel savings, fewer part movements, and longer engine life. The other advantage of using a hybrid engine, apart from sustainability, is the reduction in vehicle noise. for instance:

• In September 2021, Komatsu introduced its new WE1850-3-wheel loader which is a part of its new 3 series hybrid power train technology. In addition, the loader offers a versatile loading tool that can be utilized for main line production and shovel backup.
• In September 2022, Volvo Construction Equipment introduced a 38-tonne class EC380E Hybrid excavator model, which is one of the largest among the company's offerings. The model helped the company to consistently expand its hybrid range to help increase fuel efficiency by 17%.

With the introduction of the 2014 EPA regulations of Tier 4 emission standards, off-highway machinery manufacturers have started investing heavily in R&D on electric and hybrid vehicles. However, the power required for most of the off-highway machinery's function is too high, therefore, the use of fully electric power sources is still limited.

Considering these factors and development, demand for hybrid off-highway equipment/machinery is expected to witness high growth rate during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific is Leading the Electric Off-highway Equipment/Machinery Market

The electric off-highway equipment/machinery market is led by Asia-Pacific, followed by North America and Europe. The Government of China is encouraging people to adopt electric vehicles. The country has already made plans to phase out diesel fuel, which runs the current generation of tractors and construction equipment. The country is planning to completely ban diesel and petrol vehicles, by 2040. The electrification of farm machineries is also gaining momentum in the country. For example, China developed its first self-driving electric tractor, labelled with EPOCH. The tractor was produced by Henan Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Innovation Centre and was launched in Luoyang.

Construction and mining industries in India, China are witnessing immense growth which seems to portray positive impacts on the electric off-highway equipment/machinery market. For instance:

• In Union Budget 2021, the government of India allocated INR 13,750 crore which is USD 1.89 billion to AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transportation) and Smart Cities Mission in order to support initiatives including housing for all and smart cities mission.
• China is also one of the major countries in the Asia-Pacific, with ample construction activities being supported by its growing economy. The country's growth rate is high but is gradually moving toward moderate (as the population ages and economy rebalances from investment to consumption, from manufacturing to services, and from external to internal demand). In April 2022, Chinese government under its geopolitical favours planned to extend its reach in Bangladesh by extending belt and road initiatives. Beijing has proposed road development project worth RMB 7.26 million for these projects to enter Bangladeshi roadways.
• The Government of India's primary area of attention now is the infrastructure sector. India intends to invest USD 1.4 trillion in infrastructure between 2019 and 2023 in order to have sustainable national growth. In order to complete significant infrastructure projects for the region, India and Japan have joined forces to enhance the region's infrastructure in the north-eastern states of India. They are also forming an India-Japan Coordination Forum for the development of the Northeast.

Considering this ongoing development in the region, demand for electric off-highway equipment/machinery in Asia-pacific is expected to witness high growth rate during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The electric off-highway equipment/machinery market is moderately consolidated, and it is dominated by few players, such as Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Company, Volve CE, and XCMG Group, among others. The major players have exponentially increased their R&D expenditures, in order to integrate innovation with excellence in performance. The demand for high-performance, highly efficient, and safe handling equipment, from the end-user market, is expected to make the market more competitive over the forecast period.

Some of the important players that fall in the 'Others' category are AGCO, CLAAS, CNH Industrial NV, JCB, Kobelco, Yanmar, and Atlas Copco AB. Players are partnering to expand the charging infrastructure for these electric off-highway equipment/machinery. For instance:

In July 2022, Beam Global and Volvo Construction Equipment made a constructive partnership making charging possible everywhere without the need for utility grid connections. Beam's electric vehicle arc off-grid, which is the solar-powered charging system would support the purchase of Volvo electric products at any of Volvo's 245 North American dealer locations.

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