Family-run Cotswold company Heming Engineering Ltd is showing the way in challenging times for the economy by being named as a dealer for the world’s first fully electric skid steer loader.
The company – which has been in business for 52 years and is based in Willersey, near Broadway – is adding to its burgeoning sales portfolio by becoming sole dealer in five counties for the state-of-the-art Elise 900 loader made by Kovaco Electric Company, which is headquartered in Prague in the Czech Republic.
The loader is 100 percent electric, operates for more than eight hours on one charge and boasts zero environmental impact.
Heming Engineering has been appointed as sole dealer for the loader across Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire.
The Elise 900 can be driven manually by way of two in-cab joysticks or remotely via a mobile phone supplied with the machine as standard – or via an optional 433 Mhz two joystick control set.
The Kovaco Electric mobile phone application is available to download from the internet. This application allows the mobile phone to be used as a remote dashboard when operating from outside the cab or as a conventional type dashboard when operating the machine whilst in the cab. The display documents the speed at which the hydraulics and forward motion are set at (four speeds), bucket self-levelling operations, battery usage and life – as well as the two-joystick control function when in “remote mode”.
The Kovaco Electric Company has made two battery types available to its customers to ideally suit all operations and budgets. The first battery (240Ah) affords the operator up to six hours of continuous operation and the second bigger battery (400 Ah) will allow usage of 8 hours and upwards. These batteries can be charged to 100% in 3.5 hours. The company also recently introduced the MINI Z compact loader, which is also completely electric-powered.
Peter Heming, MD of parent company Heming Group, said: “The beauty of the Kovaco Electric machines is that you get all the performance of diesel vehicles without emissions and noise. As there are only electrical motors in the machine service costs are set to a minimum, while operational cost savings compared to a conventional loader are dramatic and should pay for the machine within the first years of operation.”
Finlay Bassett, UK business development manager for Kovaco Electric, said: “Heming Group is a very versatile business operating in various different sectors of industry and this greatly appealed to me.”
The Elise 900 is ideal for use on poultry, pig and fruit farms, as well as in factories, builders’ yards and the construction industry – especially in confined spaces. It is also perfectly suited to the landscaping, amenities and equine sectors.
Earlier this year Mr Heming became Chairman for BAGMA (British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association) for the four counties regional group of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. He has played a pivotal role in the growth of Heming Group, which also comprises Heming Services, Heming Plant Hire, Ford Electrical and Major Cooling and Heating – as well as Heming Engineering.
Heming Engineering has built its reputation on providing tractor parts and machinery spares, the servicing and repair of all types of agricultural equipment, commercial and four-wheel drive vehicles and the maintenance of industrial and construction equipment.
