Construction Sites Are Going Electric! The Biggest, Baddest, & Most Useful EVs For The Job Site

TL;DR

Con Expo 2025 showed construction equipment electrification is no longer experimental, with dozens of job-ready EVs from excavators to massive dump trucks.

Key Points

• 1.Smallest to largest excavators: Komatsu's PC1 is the world's smallest electric excavator (fits through doors), while Volvo's EC230 handles full 8-hour shifts with auto-grade leveling and a newly upgraded battery.
• 2.Lingong off-highway dump truck: Chinese-built electric hauler carries 70 metric tons, packs over 500 kWh battery (600 kWh option), dual GBT charge ports, and 5-foot-tall tires with differentials the size of a torso.
• 3.LiuGong world's largest electric wheel loader: LiuGong has sold 15,000 electric wheel loaders globally, makes more than any other manufacturer, and their flagship unit delivers a full 8-hour runtime on DC-only CCS charging.
• 4.SANY's massive electric forklift: Weighs nearly 50,000 lbs, lifts 35,000 lbs, features a touchscreen display and joystick controls — likely the largest electric forklift shown at the event.
• 5.Peterbilt 567 EV dump truck: One of the few large vocational electric trucks shown in the US, with batteries behind the cab and underneath, hydraulic pump for the dump bed, and a full screen-based cab.
• 6.Hitachi ZX17U with swappable batteries: Mini excavator developed with Daimler featuring slide-out battery packs charged in a dedicated fast-charging unit — enabling continuous operation without long downtime.
• 7.Bobcat T7X/S7X (mentioned, not shown): Fully hydraulic-free skid steer uses ball-screw linear actuators instead, containing almost no fluid — one of the most radical electric machine designs in the industry.
• 8.Powertrain supplier explosion: ZF, Danfoss, Volvo Penta, Omni Powertrain, and Kessler all displayed modular electric axles, stacked axial flux motors (one tiny unit peaks at 6.3 kW), and 192 kW continuous drive units for OEM integration.