Micah Toll bought a load of cheap electric excavators from China. By buying a shipping container-worth of them he got the unit price down to less than a well-used diesel skid steer—and they look like an amazing amount of fun. You might remember Toll from the $1700 mini electric Jeep he reviewed.
These are fairly small machines – the NESHER NX2500 model name hints at the 2,500 lb (1.1 metric ton) weight of the mini-excavator. With a 5.5-foot (167 cm) digging depth, they are great for tasks such as landscaping jobs like tree planting, utility work like trench digging, material handling like loading and unloading gravel, logs, etc., and even light demolition work. They are especially useful for indoor demolition and renovation jobs, since their zero-emission operation means that operators don't have to run a long exhaust hose to pipe out the poisonous diesel exhaust or risk the health of anyone in the building.
They're offered for sale here for just shy of $20k. Still cheaper than a mini Bobcat! And all-electric is a rare and expensive option in the west: "You have to jump through hoops of JCB sales reps before they finally tell you that is a nearly US $100,000 machine."
It's not the lack of power that worries me (modern electric vehicles are startlingly powerful!) it's the lack of weight.
