Machine manufacturer STAAD is taking another significant step towards electrification. With the introduction of the electric STAAD 23LCR crawler excavator at the end of March, the company demonstrates that it is serious about electric heavy earthmoving equipment. This new machine complements the electric STAAD 17W mobile excavator, which was presented last year.
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In recent years, Staad has gained extensive experience electrifying existing diesel machines. That knowledge came together in the development of the STAAD 17W, the company's first fully in-house electric mobile excavator. It soon became clear that this was not the end point. The ambition was, and is, clear: a complete in-house line of electric earthmoving machines, developed from practical experience and tailored to daily work in the civil engineering sector.
Less than a year after the introduction of the STAAD 17W, the STAAD 23LCR is now ready. This electric crawler excavator, just like the mobile excavator, was fully developed and built in-house by the teams in Veghel, Oss, and Harlingen, and designed as an electric machine from the drawing board. “We deliberately looked at what the market needs,” says Managing Director Pieter Staadegaard. “The machine had to be compact, without compromising on stability and capacity.”
The STAAD 23LCR is not a zero-tail swing excavator, but it does have an extra-short swing radius. The machine features a compact design at the front and rear. Thanks to longer and stronger lifting cylinders, the boom can move far backward, increasing its versatility. The excavator is equipped with a detachable tiltrotator and a 1,200-liter bucket, and has an extra-heavy counterweight of four tons.
Just as with the STAAD 17W, energy efficiency is central. With that machine, STAAD already demonstrated that working electrically need not have any practical limitations. This principle has now been translated into the STAAD 23LCR.
The choice for an electric machine in the 26-ton class was therefore a deliberate one. “Our customers are looking for a machine that they can easily charge anywhere at the end of the workday,” says Staadegaard. “Within ten hours via a standard three-phase power connection, so that the machine can fully charge overnight without expensive fast chargers or extra buffer batteries.” This places high demands on energy consumption during the workday.
Many components and technical solutions from the STAAD 17W are modular in design and also reappear in the STAAD 23LCR. “For us, this approach forms the basis for accelerating development while simultaneously continuing to deliver consistent quality,” says Staadegaard.
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The development of the STAAD 23LCR is based on extensive field data. Currently, around 285 converted electric machines from Staad are operating in the field. A number of these have been measured using sensors. This provided precise insight into exactly where the energy consumption is occurring.
“The limiting factor is not the battery capacity, but the charging capacity at the location,” states Staadegaard. “An oversized battery pack increases costs, restricts visibility, and requires additional charging infrastructure.” STAAD therefore opts for an efficient design with a relatively compact Powerbox battery pack, beneficial for both purchase and use.
On a mobile excavator, the drive system is typically a significant energy consumer. With the STAAD 17W, this is solved using direct electric drive, without the intervention of a hydrostatic system. With crawler excavators, consumption lies primarily with the working hydraulics. It was precisely there that STAAD saw opportunities to save energy. Together with Bosch Rexroth, STAAD developed a hydraulic system that recovers energy from the return flows of the hydraulic oil. When the boom lowers, the oil flows back into the system via the pump. At that moment, the pump acts as a generator and supplies electricity back to the Powerbox. The principle is comparable to the regenerative braking we know from electric cars.
The STAAD 23LCR uses the Powerbox 400 with a capacity of 400 kWh, which can be charged overnight via two 32A three-phase power connections. New is bi-directional charging: the machine can also supply power to other electric tools on the construction site.
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Just like the STAAD 17W, the STAAD 23LCR comes fully equipped as standard. The luxury cab is equipped with ergonomic, heated joysticks with haptic feedback that warn of unsafe situations, as well as a cooled and heated seat with a massage function. Many options that are often offered as customer-specific in the market, such as extra hydraulic functions, GPS preparation, central lubrication, contour lighting indicating the work area, and an AI 360° camera system, are also integrated ex factory by STAAD. By including these features in the design as standard, it is not only better but also significantly cheaper than having them installed later in the workshop.
Together, the STAAD 17W and the STAAD 23LCR form the starting point of a growing electric machine line. Fully developed in the Netherlands, energy-efficient and, according to STAAD, just the beginning of what is to come.
STAAD develops its electric machines with a strong focus on design and design quality. That this is recognized is evidenced by the awarding of an iF DESIGN AWARD 2026 to the electric STAAD 17W mobile excavator, the electric 23LCR crawler excavator, and the Powerbox 300 battery pack. You can see the iF logo on the STAAD 23LCR images in this article.
This article was published by Cumela – the trade association for over 3,200 entrepreneurs in landscaping, soil, and infrastructure – in Grondig magazine , the trade journal of this organization.
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