MANITOU Group has announced it is teaming up with Kiloutou Group to start the first heavy equipment retrofit project involving a manufacturer and a rental company.
Manitou has signed a 12-month partnership agreement with equipment rental specialist Kiloutou to offer electrification kits for Manitou’s used internal combustion engine telehandler.
Retrofitting these machines is set to extend their useful life and reduce their environmental impact, in particular carbon emissions, in accordance with the commitments that both organisations have made in their CSR roadmaps.
The project, which will roll out over the next two years, is aimed at testing the technical and economic feasibility of electrifying telehandlers initially designed and marketed with internal combustion engines.
The first phase of the test is being carried out on a high lifting height telehandler demonstrator in Kiloutou’s rental fleet. During 2023, this model will be dismantled and reassembled with an electrification kit at Manitou Group’s production plant in Ancenis, then tested in real-life conditions at Kiloutou’s test centre near Lille.
After the machine clears the test, Manitou explained it will be in a position to offer electrification kits for machines refurbished using new or pre-owned parts, exclusively to Kiloutou Group. This distribution will be carried out for a period of 12 months from the beginning of 2024, on several machines in Kiloutou’s fleet.
These kits comprise components including a lithium-ion battery, and are said to ‘open the door’ to switching from internal combustion engines to extremely low-carbon full-electric motors.
Michel Denis, president & CEO of Manitou Group, said, “We are currently rolling out our choice of low-emissions machines in our Oxygen range. We were also looking for an alternative to our internal combustion machines that are already in operation, to take the next step in this direction.
“Kiloutou is particularly open to this kind of solutions, so we will be working together to create retrofit kits. The goal is to extend our products’ useful life and at the same time shrink our carbon footprint.”
Most of the retrofitting work will involve machines Kiloutou has had in its rental fleet for about five years.
François Renault, group fleet and sustainability director of Kiloutou Group, added, “At Kiloutou, we firmly believe that decarbonising the construction and civil engineering sector will take a team effort. This project with Manitou Group is that principle in practice and shows that we are committed to the same goals. The possibility of giving machines in our fleet a second life, and lowering their emissions, is a key lever in our drive to reduce our indirect emissions. We are working particularly hard these days to fast-track this circular-economy solution.”
