Avant Techno launches electric loaders at bauma
Published 3/1, 2023 at 14:31Avant Tecno’s new subsidiary, Avant Power, is set to start producing battery packs for fully electric Avant’s in 2023. Two new loader models, Avant e5-27 and Avant e5-13, will be equipped with Avant ‘OptiTemp’ batteries (27kWh and 13kWh) featuring what the company says is a unique thermal management system.
“Avant Tecno has been doing research and development related to electric loaders since the 1990s, and our first fully electric loader was introduced in 1997. After working with electric loaders and batteries for decades, we realised that there was no battery pack in the world that would be perfectly optimised for compact loaders. That’s why we decided to start making batteries ourselves,” says Mikko Piepponen, chief operating officer at Avant Power Oy. Avant Power has introduced two new generation OptiTemp battery packs for the new full electric Avant e5-27 and e5-13 models.
Key features
The batteries have been designed with a high capacity of up to 27 kWh enabling work for a whole day. The innovative thermal management system keeps the temperature optimised and provides the same capacity in hot and freezing weather. As the battery is plugged into a charger, the temperature control system is automatically switched on; when the workday starts and the loader is unplugged, the battery temperature is optimised and adjusted to the prevailing weather conditions. Rapid charging stations are available, and due to the structure of the battery, it can be charged in 1.5h with a rapid charger, which enables long workdays. For safe operation, the OptiTemp batteries are designed so that there is no risk of propagation – thermal runaway from one cell to another – or flame leakage outside the battery device. Therefore safety is guaranteed by the structure and the immersion cooling system of the battery.
“The cooperation with Avant Power, and the batteries they have developed, allows us to build the kind of electric loaders that the market has been longing for. Longer working time and more affordable pricing have been key issues with electric loaders until now. With the new e5 models, we intend to tackle them both,” says Jani Käkelä, CEO of Avant Tecno. The new Avant e5-27 and e5-13 loader models and the Avant OptiTemp battery packs were unveiled at the international bauma fair in Munich, Germany, on 24 October 2022 at Avant’s stand with production set to start in 2023.