Case Building Tools has introduced a brand new partnership with ZQuip to ship autos with swappable power modules that eradicate vary anxiousness whereas providing unprecedented flexibility in energy supply choice
A problem for OEM engineers when designing electrical development equipment is creating the best steadiness of battery capability, energy and charging time. However, with a radically completely different answer supplied by ZQuip, a part of Moog Building, Case Building Tools is constructing in a brand new stage of flexibility.
Unveiled at Bauma in April, Case’s CX210ZQ tracked excavator and WX155ZQ wheeled excavator utilise ZQuip’s swappable power modules that may accommodate numerous energy configurations together with simply batteries, hybrid configurations with diesel mills to cost batteries on the transfer, and sooner or later, hydrogen gas cells and combustion.
The system supplies not solely flexibility but additionally price advantages. “A completely built-in battery system is extraordinarily costly upfront,” says Chris LaFleur, managing director of ZQuip. “This method permits them to purchase basically a naked software, at a a lot lower cost level.”
The ‘naked software’ can then be outfitted with no matter energy supply the shopper wants, which might start with a low-cost answer however evolve to one thing increased finish over the lifetime of the machine. The modular method means prospects can reap the benefits of no matter energy options are developed, which immediately consists of completely different battery chemistry choices – high-output NMC batteries present most efficiency for demanding purposes, whereas LFP batteries supply lower-cost options for traditional operations.
“The shopper decides how he desires to make use of it,” says Eric Zeiser, product portfolio supervisor at CNH Industrial. “If he desires to maintain his price low at first, he should purchase only one power module. He might purchase the only module out there to maintain his preliminary buy value down. After which, sooner or later, if in six months he realises his job websites are larger, he wants extra energy, he buys the second and third module as he must.”
The 2 Case autos are completely different sizes with completely different energy wants, so the WX155ZQ accommodates two power modules whereas the CX210ZQ helps three modules. The extra modules a machine has, the extra flexibility there may be. “On the three-bay CX210 you may have an LFP battery, an NMC battery and a diesel hybrid module, all collectively working on the similar time,” says LaFleur.
Weight administration presents a crucial consideration given the completely different plenty of assorted power modules. “The load of the machine when it has a full load of batteries is designed to be an identical to the usual Case machine,” says Rob Bauer, engineering supervisor for ZQuip. Diminished-weight configurations nonetheless stay secure for transport and light-work purposes, but when the operator needs to revive full lifting capability with fewer power modules, ballast items containing concrete might be added.

Low-emission imaginative and prescient
No matter energy configuration is opted for, decreasing emissions stays a core precept of the ZQuip system. For prolonged runtime necessities, hybrid modules mix electrical operation with diesel technology, however this nonetheless maintains lowered emissions in comparison with typical diesel-hydraulic machines. “The excavators are at all times electrical,” confirms Bauer. “The query is, the place does the power come from? In an optimum case, when you may have a traditional workday, you’re pulling all of the power out of a battery, and that’s an amazing day. All the pieces’s good. However, for those who’re in a troublesome web site, or you need to work a number of hours in a day, we offer you choices.”
The ZQuip system supplies 4 distinct strategies for ‘refuelling’: in a single day charging, fast-charging, full module swapping, and hybrid operation with steady charging of batteries throughout work. This flexibility addresses the unpredictable nature of development work. “Everyone knows that in development, issues generally go sideways,” says Bauer. “So that you begin your day with one plan, however you finish your day in a distinct plan. Possibly supplies didn’t present up on time. Possibly the climate went unhealthy.”
Surprising conditions require fast reactions, and the ZQuip system permits operators to modify between full electrical and hybrid operation to ship operational continuity no matter altering job web site necessities. “The machine is subject configurable in about three minutes,” says Bauer.
The modular structure transforms upkeep operations by eliminating machine downtime throughout service. When hybrid modules require upkeep, the module might be eliminated and serviced off-site whereas the machine continues working with different energy sources.“In a standard machine, in case your energy supply will not be working, you need to take the entire machine to a facility,” says Bauer. “On this machine, you merely pull that module out, you set it on a small truck, take it to a quite simple, cheap storage and deal with that service. Whereas that’s occurring the machine’s nonetheless working.”
“We’ve efficiently gone from idea to prototype and at the moment are delivering these items to prospects. We’ve solved the engineering challenges to create a wholly new world of development, unbiased of which method future energy wants take the trade”
A rising household
For Case Building Tools and its mother or father firm, CNH Industrial, the ZQuip partnership represents a strategic growth past current compact electrical choices. “CNH has at all times been a pacesetter in sustainability and we’ve got a full vary of compact electrical autos, however we didn’t have an answer for heavy equipment till now,” says Egidio Galano, director of development tools product administration for Europe at CNH Industrial.
The collaboration builds on a longtime relationship between the businesses courting to 2019. Case’s 580EV electrical backhoe loader, launched in 2024 because the trade’s first production-ready purpose-built electrical backhoe, makes use of Moog’s TerraTech platform for electrical movement management. “The ZQuip answer permits us to shortly broaden our attain to these prospects which have a necessity for bigger, zero-emission heavy tools,” explains Franco Invernizzi, vp and world head of CNH Building Tools Technique.
The system’s engineering represents an achievement in standardization. All power modules utilise an identical mechanical and electrical interfaces, no matter energy supply. The mechanical retention system employs a fast disconnect mechanism much like bucket attachments generally utilized in development tools. “There’s a mechanical lock,” Bauer explains. “So only a mechanical lock is similar to the way in which a bucket is retained on to a fast disconnect on a machine. It’s a really comparable mechanism. So it’s fairly easy, one thing that’s tried and true within the development trade.”
{The electrical} interface consolidates excessive voltage, low voltage, and communication connections right into a single touch-safe connector requiring no instruments. Two quick-disconnect coolant connections full the interface.
The system additionally supplies information by in-cab shows and distant monitoring. Operators obtain real-time car data. This information stays accessible by way of cellular units when operators are away from the machine.

Actual-world deployment
The transition from idea to manufacturing displays robust buyer curiosity. Netherlands-based Case seller Schmidt Bouwmachines has begun accepting buyer orders, whereas development agency Dunnewind Groep, additionally within the Netherlands, has taken supply of a WX155ZQ.
“We’ve efficiently gone from idea to prototype and at the moment are delivering these items to prospects,” says LaFleur. “We’ve solved the engineering challenges to create a wholly new world of development, unbiased of which method future energy wants take the trade.”
The ZQuip system’s versatility extends past Case tools. It’s an OEM-agnostic system that ZQuip has already retrofitted in quite a lot of completely different machines for the rental sector. It has the aptitude to transform nearly any diesel hydraulic development car from 5 to 50 tonnes, and potential utility to 70-tonne machines in sure configurations.
This broad compatibility, mixed with the strategic partnership between established trade leaders, positions the modular energy method as a key growth within the electrification of development tools. The collaboration demonstrates how progressive engineering options can deal with the challenges of electrical transition whereas sustaining the pliability that development purposes demand.