I have always thought there was sound reasoning for increasing efficiency in diesel off highway machinery by the use of a diesel electric hybrid system, allowing the diesel engine to run at optimal conditions to use the least fuel possible, and letting a generator/battery bank run the rest of the machine in place of a conventional diesel engine and associated equipment.

I stumbled upon an article from OEM Off-Highway (https://www.oemoffhighway.com/trends/electrification/article/21090500/electrification-trends-in-offhighway-equipment) that opened my eyes even more to the advantages of electrifying off highway equipment.

One of the major takeaways for me was the ability to recuperate energy to put back in to the batteries, from the essentially wasted energy returning hydraulic cylinders from one position to another, cycles that happen hundreds or thousands of times daily in some off highway equipment.

The other big thing that I had to step back and think about is, if these machines go a step past the diesel electric hybrid model, and run strictly off batteries, there is no longer a noisy diesel engine. With no more noise from the engine, these machines can be much more welcomed by the communities they may be operating in.

Electrified machines may still be a ways off in the distance for the mainstream, but now is the time for me to learn as much about the technology as I can while still working in the field and being able to be hands in with the technology before I venture into teaching and lose some of that opportunity of hands on learning.