Electric option for 50 tonne Liebherr

Unveiling the Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 compact crane with electric option for crane operation on 5 April 2022

Manufacturer Liebherr has a new electric power option for the lifting functions on its 50 tonne capacity LTC 1050-3.1 compact wheeled mobile telescopic crane.

The option was unveiled at a special preview on 5 April at the Liebherr-Werk Ehingen factory in Germany. It allows the three axle model’s crane elements to be powered either by the conventional diesel engine or by an electric motor.

Under electric power the crane can operate with zero emissions of greenhouse gases at the point of use. Full performance is also available in electric mode, Liebherr said. A further benefit of the electric option is reduced noise which helps at night or in noise sensitive areas.

Full performance is available from the electric version of Liebherr’s 50 tonne capacity compact mobile crane

Full performance
At the launch Ulrich Hamme, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen technical director, said, “We want to be able to offer our customers full crane performance even with the alternative electric power unit. The LTC 1050-3.1 still has a conventional internal combustion engine, powered by diesel or HVO, for driving on roads and for crane operations. However, as an alternative it also has an electric power unit for crane operations so that it generates ‘zero emission.’ That means that all the familiar usage properties of the crane will be retained, regardless of whether the crane operations are powered by its zero emission electric motor or its internal combustion engine.”

For travel to and from site the LTC 1050-3.1 has a 243 kW, six cylinder EU Stage 5 Liebherr engine. In addition to conventional diesel, it can be fuelled with hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) as an alternative, “enabling it to reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to fuelling it with diesel,” the manufacturer said.

The electric motor and its drive system on the electric version of the Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1

Electric operation on site
The electric option sees a 72 kW electric motor mounted above the crane’s transmission and running the existing hydraulic pump instead of the diesel engine doing it. In addition to the motor, a gear drive unit, driveshaft and some electronic controls are added to complete the alternative power option.

On site the crane is plugged into the mains power grid. For full performance it needs a 125 Amp supply but it can be operated from 63 Amps. An external battery pack can also be used in the absence of a suitable mains supply.

More widely, Liebherr said it is working on alternative drive units, “which are perfectly tailored to the application and location of the machine, without focusing on a single technology.”

Prototype testing is underway on the electric version of the LTC 1050-3.1 with its 36 metre Telematik boom. RemoteDrive for remotely controlled driving and the elevating cab are options also available on the electrified version. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2023.

Electric version of the Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 operating inside a factory with zero emission at the point of use