IN Brief:
- Holcim UK is adding 20 LiuGong 870HE electric wheel loaders to its fleet.
- The machines offer a 423kWh battery, a 4.7m³ bucket, and up to nine hours of runtime.
- The rollout follows a year-long trial at Callow Rock Quarry in Somerset.
Holcim UK is rolling out 20 LiuGong 870HE electric wheel loaders across selected aggregate and asphalt sites after a successful year-long trial at Callow Rock Quarry in Somerset.
The 24,640kg machines are powered by a 423kWh LFP battery and supplied with a 4.7m3 bucket, placing them among the larger battery-electric loaders now entering regular site service in the UK. Holcim said the units can be fast-charged in around 80 minutes and deliver up to nine hours of runtime, figures that move them beyond demonstration duty and into shift-based material handling.
Callow was used as the proving ground because of its gradients, varied loading demands, and long operating day. With a 200kW charger installed on site, the trial machine worked from 6am to 5pm with a 30-minute lunchtime charge, giving Holcim a clearer view of performance under production conditions rather than a controlled showcase environment.
The loaders now join a wider electric fleet that already includes mixer trucks, cement lorries, site vehicles, and mobile plant. For Holcim, the latest rollout expands electrification from road-going assets into heavier quarry and aggregate operations, where charging windows, payload, and uptime tend to decide whether a technology is workable at scale.
