Staad, based in Veghel, Oss and Harlingen, will be launching a fully self-developed 17-ton electric mobile excavator on the market in mid-2026. A first prototype will make its debut at Bauma. This will no longer have a Develon as its basis. From the undercarriage to the dipper stick, the machine has been completely designed, drawn and built in the Netherlands. According to Staad, the step towards self-manufacturing is necessary in order to be able to build an electric machine without concessions that uses its energy more efficiently and thus becomes more competitive with a diesel. But there is much more.
Interview by BouwmachinesNL published on BouwmachinesNL 31-03-2025.
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It is almost ready: the Staad 17W. At the time of our visit, mechanics are putting the finishing touches to the compact electric 17-tonner that will make its debut at Bauma in Munich. A world first. Key points: built from scratch by Staad itself, more energy-efficient partly due to electric instead of hydrostatic wheel drive and built more compactly for better direct all-round visibility. Remarkable; where Staad has consistently focused on larger battery packs with a higher energy density and increasingly more kWh on board in recent years, the newcomer will have a smaller battery pack on board.
It typifies the change that is coming at Staad. Because by not starting from an existing basis, the company expects to be able to make its electric machines much more efficient. So less power is needed on board to be able to complete the working day. Three major advantages: the machine can be built more compactly and the smaller, lower battery provides better visibility to the rear. That is a major wish from practice. Secondly, this -still replaceable- battery is easier and can be charged at more places at night because a fairly standard 32A connection is now sufficient. Finally, a more efficient machine reduces costs. The lower energy consumption should make this new generation of electric machines competitive with the current generation of diesels in the long term.
Just before Bauma, we are guests in Veghel. In a recently put into use second building, Staad has recently housed its own development branch for electrical machines. Things are going well. The electrification branch, separate from the dealership, now has more than 100 employees and there is a second branch in Harlingen and a third in Oss. The company has all the knowledge of battery technology and software in-house. The conversion process has been streamlined to such an extent that partner companies can also carry this out on assignment. This allowed and allows for rapid scaling up.
And it is also the way in which Staad will build its own machines in the future: keeping the knowledge in-house and outsourcing the steelwork and assembly to partner companies in the region. Where Staad took the plunge five years ago and converted existing earthmoving machines to an electric driveline itself, a new phase will begin in the coming years. The ambitions are high, but does that match the faltering market for electric machines? “Precisely because the market is developing slowly, we see that the big brands are not coming out with electric mobile machines quickly. That is actually beneficial for us, because it remains a niche market in which we can only expand our lead,” says general manager Pieter Staadegaard.
At the time of this visit, this new chapter is still in the development workshop and is as good as finished. It is a chapter in which Staad will continue to convert Develon machines, but will also enter the market as a manufacturer of its own machines. The 17W is the first step in what should eventually become a line of six own machines and will include crawler excavators, mobile excavators and one wheel loader. At first glance, these are unprecedented plans for the relatively small player. But it is a well-considered step that Staad has already prepared for behind the scenes, director Pieter Staadegaard assures us.
In the meantime, the 17W is on its way to Munich for Bauma, where the small Dutch player will unveil the world premiere on its own stand in front of the billion-dollar concerns. In this mobile segment, the small Brabant player is simply ahead of the global concerns in terms of technology. And not just a little bit, but miles ahead. The fact that Staad is now the first of its own machines to come out with the mobile seventeen-tonner is of course no coincidence. That has always been the best-selling electric machine within the conversion programme. Moreover, most of the knowledge is here, because building mobile excavators is not easy. Some major brands are already struggling with the diesel versions, but launching a well-running electric version on the market is still a few steps further.
Where a crawler excavator works perfectly well, the functionality of a mobile machine depends on details. At Staad, they know which details are important for an electric mobile machine. With 200 electric machines in the field, of which 135 are mobile electric excavator machines, they can rely on a huge amount of practical experience and data. All this experience made the builders increasingly realize that they had to build a machine themselves in order to process all the wishes.
Back to that machine. To be fair, an unsuspecting passer-by would probably not look up or around if the new compact seventeen-tonner were to stand in Veghel between a row of Develons. Because the Staad machine is also deliberately orange with anthracite and also has its battery in the rear of the superstructure, as usual. And with a three-part adjustable boom and an undercarriage like any mobile machine, the Staad 17W does not seem revolutionary different.
With the emphasis on seems. Because on all fronts, this is a machine that was completely conceived and built by Staad. For example, the proportions and dimensions of the own boom are aimed at being able to lift more closer to the machine. The boom can be tilted further back and has increased in length. The stroke of practically all cylinders is also different from the current Develons. It also reduces the total swing radius, enables compact working and provides a greater height range. Hoisting loads closer to the heart of the slewing ring saves energy.
A key point: everything has been done to make the machine more energy-efficient. That was the main goal, because this is the only way the machine can use a smaller battery. From the current 400 kWh to 300 kWh. This not only reduces the purchase costs, it should also make it easier to charge the machine on a 32A power connection. Charging is often a puzzle now, because 64A connections are hardly available. Let alone on construction sites. By using the power more economically, the range should remain intact despite the smaller battery. The manufacturer has made the biggest breakthrough by replacing the hydrostatic drive of the wheels with a direct electric drive. This also makes it possible to recover energy when braking; the electric motor then serves as a dynamo.
Pieter Staadegaard: “Normally you brake by throttling the hydrostatic system. That heats up the oil, which means you have to cool it down; that also costs energy. Now that the drive is electric, the coolers can be much smaller and require less energy. We also placed the coolers separately on the machine, so that they do not heat each other up and therefore work more efficiently.” By starting from scratch ourselves, we increasingly realised that existing machines are not always logically constructed. “If you look at how many right-angled bends, constrictions or T-pieces there are in a hydraulic system; that is all resistance and costs energy, we have removed all that on our machine.”
Staad deliberately chose not to use batteries in the undercarriage. “We think that is too vulnerable a spot,” Staadegaard explains. The controls are also servo-controlled instead of electronic, and the boom is still equipped with hydraulic cylinders instead of actuators with adjustment motors. “We did consider the latter, but our own research shows that they are not resistant to the forces that are released when you use a demolition hammer, for example.”
With five years of experience in developing electric drive lines and converting existing excavators and wheel loaders, you would expect your own machine to be progressive in that area. However, that is not all. Because the experience with earthmoving naturally goes back much longer via the dealership. Through that route and the input of dealers and customers, the wishes that the general market has for a mobile excavator have also been incorporated into the Staad 17W. With hydraulic valves and electrics on the undercarriage, a K80 coupling and a grease feed-through in the turntable for automatic greasing on the undercarriage. In addition, built-in position sensors for 3D GPS, a camera system with AI person recognition and standard integration of wheel steering on the joystick. Furthermore, the machine is prepared for tiltrotator control. To name but a few.
Staadegaard: “We now had the opportunity to do it right, so everything you can think of and more is included.” And with this thorough approach, Staade is making history, because it seems that since the demise of Caesar we have another excavator manufacturer on Dutch soil.
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