PistenBully Gives Us The World's First E-Groomer
The market for fully electric vehicles ranges from little electric scooters that people use to run around town to full-size semi trucks that can move cargo all over the world's road. Now PistenBully has taken this zero-emission approach to the slopes.
It was at Interalpin 2019, the leading international trade fair for alpine technologies, in Innsbruck, Austria the PistenBully debuted the all-electric 100 E. It was fitting for the debut to be now, as the debut coincides with PistenBullys 50th anniversary. As stated in a press release from PistenBully, the first steps towards this achievement have already been in the making.
The first step was already taken in 2012 with the market launch of the PistenBully 600 E+ with diesel-electric drive. After all, the focus at Kässbohrer has been on sustainability for a long time now. So it should come as no surprise that, with the PistenBully 100 E study, Kässbohrer engineers have now made the impossible possible. Already well-known for their inquisitiveness and passion, paired with their claim as being drivers of innovation and possessing environmental awareness, it was only a matter of time until a study such as this was conducted. What this means is that we now have the prospect of completely clean slope grooming."
The testing of this prototype has already been fairly successful with the 100 E performing to the standards the designers have set out for the project. Being reported to doing well in the snow, the machine is also off to a good start with run time. The machine has a battery capacity of 126 kWh with a rated voltage at 400V, and a max charge time of 6.5 hours. All of this gives the 100 E a run time of about 2.5 to 3 hours.
Some haters would say that having a run time of only three hours won't get much grooming done, but this is only the prototype. As technology develops the PistenBully 100 E should be able to more than handle a night out on the slopes, which will help in the long terms goals of a fully "green" ski industry.
All Photos Credit: PistenBully
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