Liebherr expands excavator range with new, 250-tonne electric model — SkimNews
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- Liebherr began limited diesel-to-electric conversions of its mining excavators in 2024, with those machines moving millions of tons of dirt while saving millions of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs, and has now taken the approach into regular production with the R 9300 G8-E.
- R 9300 G8-E is built on the proven R 9300 G8 platform and carries an 850 kW (~1,140 hp) electric drivetrain designed to IEC standards, supporting 6–6.6 kV power supplies.
- R 9300 G8-E matches the diesel machine on the numbers Liebherr cares about most at the face: the same hydraulic power and a bucket capacity of 1.8 tonnes per cubic meter (~1.5 short tons per cubic yard).
- Power Efficiency – Hydraulic Control is fitted as standard, adapting hydraulic power to the machine's load profile to cut the overall engine load factor, while the Generation 8 electronic architecture links the excavator to IoMine products including the semi-autonomous Bucket Filling Assistant, the Skyview vision system and the Data View visualization tool.
- Liebherr also lets customers install its autonomous cable reel solution on the excavator to manage cable and support machine mobility on site.
- R 9300 G8-E does have on-board batteries but is primarily driven and operated from grid power, which Liebherr says reduces charging and re-charging concerns and enables round-the-clock operation for as long as grid power holds.
- Liebherr promotes quiet, emissions-free running and a drivetrain with thousands of fewer moving parts, which it says can reduce maintenance requirements and associated operating costs in certain applications and site conditions while improving conditions for workers, and the electric drivetrain also cuts cab vibration, easing operator fatigue.
Why it matters: For mine operators running ultra-class fleets, the millions of dollars in fuel and maintenance savings Liebherr logged across its 2024 conversion trials now attach to a production machine rather than one-off repowers. The catch: the R 9300 G8-E runs on 6–6.6 kV grid supply, so sites already wired for high voltage are the ones that can bank its quiet, round-the-clock running.
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