The Komatsu PC200-8 Hybrid is a hydraulic excavator

Excavator

Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...

 manufactured by Komatsu Limited. It is the world’s first hybrid (electro-hydraulic) powered construction equipment. At the time of its launch it was found to consume 25% less fuel than comparable non-hybrid excavators and up to 40% less fuel while carrying out certain functions. It was released on 1 June 2008. It has been made available in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Hybrid system

The Komatsu PC200-8 Hybrid uses the Komatsu Hybrid System. The system uses an ultracapacitor bank to store energy generated by the swing movement of the upper structure of the excavator. An electric slewing motor/generator produces electrical power (as a generator) when braking the upper structure, and stores the current in the ultracapacitor bank. The excavator then utilizes electricity discharged from the ultracapacitor bank to power a motor to assist the engine and feed the motor/generator for swing acceleration. At the time of its release, recorded fuel consumption was found to be reduced by as much as 41% when compared to comparable non-hybrid machines.