Three Key Trends Reshaping the Electric Off-Highway Machine Market

 

 

Electric off-highway machines in construction, agriculture, and mining are no longer just a technology for the future limited to prototypes. Instead, the market has developed into one with a fully-fledged commercial presence and is seeing increased interest and investment from customers, manufacturers, and governments. Similarly, the market for batteries for off-highway machines has grown considerably too, and the rising tide of electrification looks set to accelerate this over the next 10 years. IDTechEx's new "Batteries for Construction, Agriculture, & Mining Machines 2026-2036: Technologies, Players, Forecasts" report highlights three key trends taking place in the electric off-highway space and how each impacts the battery market, with demand forecasted to grow to 45 GWh by 2036.

 

 

The early days of off-highway electrification involved the retrofitting of small machines in construction and agriculture towards the end of their life with battery systems (including for compact machines weighing 6 tonnes or less). These batteries were generally small at 100 kWh or less - a similar size to what is seen in the automotive market, allowing for greater access to battery supply and a leveraging of existing infrastructure.

 

 

However, with the maturation of the market and developments in the battery space, the focus of electrification has shifted towards much larger machine models, from 20+ tonne excavators and wheel loaders all the way up to heavy mining trucks that can weigh over 200 tonnes. Average battery sizes have gone up in response, with 200-500 kWh battery packs now a common feature of new electric machines. The largest electric mining trucks have also seen increasing battery sizes, from an average of 1.4 MWh in 2024 to 1.9 MWh today, with OEMs already looking to exceed the 2 MWh mark in newer models. With Li-ion battery prices continuing to fall and a desire to extend the runtime of electric machines, it is likely that battery sizes will continue growing into the coming years.

 

 

Beyond its effect on battery sizes, the development of off-highway electrification has also seen producers move away from the retrofitting model they initially employed towards an in-house production model. New machines are being designed to be electric from the start and are thus able to achieve greater efficiencies and be optimized for their respective duty cycles, while OEMs can leverage their existing production infrastructure to achieve economies of scale.

 

This also makes acquiring electric machines easier for customers, who can now place orders for off-the-shelf electric machines instead of having to engage in customized retrofitting work with an OEM or independent engineering company. These orders are increasing in number (especially in Europe and China) and in size. For example, Australian mining company Fortescue has placed an order for over 360 electric haul trucks, representing a total battery capacity of nearly 700 MWh, to be delivered over the next 3 years along with additional electric wheel loaders and dozers. This represents the largest single order of electric off-highway machines to date, but these could become increasingly common as machines become cheaper, are produced in greater quantities, and continue to prove their performance in the field.

 

 

 

OEMs' move from a retrofitting model to an in-house production model has also led to a changing relationship upstream in the supply chain between them and battery manufacturers. Where previous relationships focused on supplying turnkey battery packs for retrofitting, OEMs are now looking for greater customization in pack designs to more closely fit the needs of production machines.

 

Increasingly, this is taking the form of OEMs acquiring battery manufacturers outright, bringing battery production in-house and allowing for closer vertical integration between battery and machine while also securing future supply chains. Key examples of this supply shift are highlighted in the new IDTechEx report, including John Deere's acquisition of Kreisel, Komatsu's acquisition of American Battery Solutions, and Yanmar's acquisition of Eleo. Such moves will help accelerate electric machine development timelines and allow for more efficient and affordable products.

 

 

 

 

 

IDTechEx's "Batteries for Construction, Agriculture, & Mining Machines 2026-2036: Technologies, Players, Forecasts" report goes into further detail on all the above factors and more, highlighting how the global market for off-highway batteries is set to grow to 45 GWh by 2036. Key to this growth will be the electrification of ever larger machine types, growing order sizes, and the establishment or acquisition of battery production capabilities by OEMs - alongside the environmental, financial, and operational benefits that electric machines can provide.

 

The IDTechEx report breaks down the state of electrification in each industry, providing analyses of the technical, economic, and performance requirements of machines, benchmarking of turnkey battery products and the wider market, and an in-depth overview of key battery technologies and their relevance to off-highway applications. Granular 10-year forecasts are provided for global off-highway battery demand (in GWh) and battery revenue (in US$ billion) - segmented by off-highway segment (construction, agriculture, mining), machine type, region (US, China, Europe, Rest of the World), and battery technology (NMC, LFP, LTO, silicon anode, solid-state, and Na-ion).

 

For more information on this report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/CAMBatteries, or for the full portfolio of research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com.