For the second consecutive year, DIECI has won the prestigious Technical Innovation award at EIMA 2022, a success made possible thanks to the company’s professionalism, commitment and growing investments into innovation and technological development.
The standout entry in the 2022 technical innovation competition was the Hybrid Boost System, a new system designed by DIECI that meets the growing need for sustainable solutions with high operational performance. With the Hybrid Boost System, new DIECI telehandlers will offer industry operators a dual advantage, by protecting the environment and significantly cutting energy waste.
The Hybrid Boost System: high-performance and environmentally friendly
The innovative concept behind the Hybrid Boost System is the creation of an electronically controlled platform that connects and optimises the operation of all the vehicle’s main systems: transmission, hydraulics and the innovative Kubota Diesel Hybrid engine.
Recent years have seen a growing interest in solutions with low environmental impact that maintain the high performance required by telehandlers, while increasingly contributing to sustainability and ecological transition.
With this goal in mind, the Hybrid Boost System was devised as a solution that reduces the size of the diesel engine, replacing a 79 kW engine (with urea-SCR technology), with a system consisting of a diesel engine plus a 55 + 10 kW Hybrid Pack without urea. By activating only when really necessary, the Hybrid Boost System provides the necessary electric power only when required, reducing energy waste and maintaining high performance thanks to the hybrid pack.
This system is DIECI’s concrete response to the energy waste that occurs in some typical work phases of medium-sized telehandlers. Thanks to the vehicle’s integrated management optimisation, maximum power is only used when needed, leaving the system free to charge the battery during low-energy operations.
In addition, its modular format means that the Hybrid Boost System can also be easily installed on future DIECI telescopic handlers, thus considerably expanding the target market of potential users.
Hybrid Boost System: all the benefits
The new system devised by the DIECI Research and Development (R&D) department is aimed at all businesses that want access to innovative solutions with low environmental impact and high performance. The Hybrid Boost System is ideal for supporting agricultural work cycles with discontinuous speed and power demands, alternated with positioning phases. With Hybrid Boost, a vehicle can perform the same routine tasks as a 79 kW vehicle without any intervention or adaptation of the operator's driving style.
From a technological point of view, the Hybrid Boost System is unprecedented on the market and represents an innovative solution because:
- It optimises vehicle performance while reducing energy waste and activates the Hybrid Pack only when necessary;
- It paves the way to hybrid telehandlers, offering an alternative to the current lack of adequate charging infrastructure. With Hybrid Boost, no charging station is required thanks to the fully automatic HYBRID system;
- It considerably reduces operating costs, energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
- It reduces maintenance needs due to the absence of urea;
- The whole system is designed to work even without the Hybrid Pack, enabling the operator to continue working in the event of a low battery;
- It’s simple and intuitive interface is ideally suited to different vehicle operators, without the need for training;
- It adapts fully to the operator's workflow.
Investment and innovation: always looking to the future
The Hybrid Boost System leads the way in a sector that is increasingly attentive to driver well-being and environmental sustainability, which are the cornerstones of innovation and tomorrow’s investments.
The recognition earned by Hybrid Boost is a success that rests squarely on the company's proven strategy of actively investing economic resources into developing new innovative solutions. The company’s determination and drive created the conditions for the R&D department to make the first breakthrough, inspired by new products presented by partners and suppliers. The R&D team then collaborated with the prototype department and several key members of the technical office to lay the foundations for this project.
This latest accolade rewards not only the newly developed system itself, but also the value of synergy and collaboration, which provides a solid basis for creating innovative and eco-friendly products.
Keeping pace with an evolving market is not always easy, but a strong commitment to offering competitive solutions that deliver tangible advantages to companies, operators and the environment is one of the biggest incentives that drives DIECI.
With this award, EIMA strengthens the company’s investment and desire to find even more productive green and electric vehicles that don’t cut performance corners or compromise on driver comfort, with a view to proposing futuristic responses to specialised user needs.