E-quipment highlight: AMT’s hot-swapping battery electric rail excavator

Rarely seen by the general public, rail road excavators are a critical piece of the infrastructure puzzle – one that can travel directly on the tracks while digging, lifting, and clearing obstacles from the track, working on everything from track maintenance and renewal to utility and civil construction projects. This one’s electric. Co-developed by Dutch equipment brand AMT and construction firm Royal BAM, the TW series of electric rail road excavators (available in 150, 160, and 180 sizes, representing 18-24 metric tonne classes) are all-electric machines packing a 600V electrical system managing a water-cooled, permanent-magnet electric motor putting out 121 kW (~160 hp). The motor draws power from a set of four 90 kWh battery packs (360 kWh total) good for 8-16 hours of continuous operation. The interesting bit, though, is not only that the batteries are swappable to help the excavator keep on keepin’ on – they’re hot swappable, meaning it can keep working on two or three batteries while a second machine plucks one out and pops in another one, so the crew can keep riding the rails. What’s more, the same modular 90 kWh battery packs can be shared across a number of AMT machines, which keeps energy from being stranded in idle assets and reduces the job’s total investment in batteries and machinery in the same way – and for the same reasons – that similar systems work for Craftsman, Milwaukee, and Ryobi guys. Hot swap, won’t stop The clever battery-swap trick doesn’t mean AMT treated charging as an afterthought, though. The excavator’s onboard charger can charge the batteries at up to 120 kW, which the company claims can bring the full 260 kW pack from a 20–80% SOC in under two hours – so you won’t need three or four machines to make the battery pack investment make sense. You can check out some of the AMT electric rail excavator’s specs in the company’s online brochure, then let us know what you think of the machine’s hot-swap battery trick in the comments. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Five weird RYOBI cordless tools the guy who has it all, doesn’t have E-quipment highlight: ZQUIP heavy equipment battery swap demo SANY SY375E packs a SWAPPABLE 550 kWh battery If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.