Maryland’s Port of Baltimore is buying an electric wheel loader from electric heavy equipment developer and maker HEVI.

The Port of Baltimore is one of the US’s busiest shipping ports, and it was the busiest US vehicle-handling port in 2022.

The East Windsor, New Jersey-based HEVI is supplying the Port with a new GEL-5000 electric wheel loader. It’s a nearly 40,000-pound (18,000 kg) machine with a 5.0-ton load rating. (A wheel loader uses an arm to raise and lower its bucket, and it uses a bell crank to open and close the bucket. It can pick up and be used for almost anything because it has a high range of articulation.)

The GEL-5000 delivers the same power as diesel loaders with its CATL 242 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. It has near-silent operating noise, so, along with being emission-free, it can be used indoors as well, in places like material-handling yards, warehouses, and factories. And, of course, it’s low-maintenance because it’s electric.

It’s able to operate for up to nine hours on a full charge, and it can be charged within two hours with a DC fast charger, and it takes 13 hours using a 220V charger. HEVI manufactures portable EV chargers for its electric heavy-duty vehicles as well, and its CEO, Raymond Wang, claims that the company makes “the only non-stationary DC chargers in the world.”

Wang said:

We are excited to be celebrating Maryland’s Port of Baltimore’s commitment to clean and sustainable alternatives. With our GEL-5000… the port can handle salt operations and other yard maintenance while significantly reducing their carbon footprint and fossil fuel contamination in our waterways.

HEVI has plans to launch an electric-tracked excavator next year.

What do you think about the GEL-500 and electric construction equipment in general? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more: Here’s what I found out in Texas about John Deere’s electric backhoe

Photos: HEVI

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