Less diesel, more autonomy and Stage V main news Bauma 2019

Equipment trade fair Bauma will be held in 2019 from April 8 to 14. The main topics will be the coming into force of the Stage V emission requirements for the smaller machines and the inevitable trend towards electrification, green gas, autonomous driving and semi-autonomous digging.

Stage V already comes into force on January 1 for machines up to 56 kW and from 130 kW. For machines in between, that is, from 57 kW to 129 kW, it will be a year later. Many brands are showing machines in all categories at Bauma that meet the stricter emission requirements, and of course the engine manufacturers are ahead of them. Several manufacturers have already indicated, that due to Stage V, the application of particulate filters and AdBlue becomes unavoidable. We are curious to see whether manufacturers such as Doosan and JCB can continue to live up to their now world-famous cry of "No DPF. By the way, the latest news is, we won't find JCB at Bauma. After the British manufacturer still presented the Hydradig excavator as a major innovation in 2016, it is going for a show at home in 2019. Also a form of Brexit actually. Quite a shame, because we have some great news waiting for us.

Even road construction equipment will not escape alternative fuels and/or electrification for works in urban areas.

Electrification
Electrically powered machines are still few and far between, but the trend is inescapable. Just as the diesel car is slowly but surely being driven out of the cities, so will our (road) construction equipment and the large arsenal of tools for landscapers and municipal (maintenance) services. At Bauma 2019, companies in this field will show all kinds of examples. If these are small machines for now, there are bound to be surprises waiting for us from the larger segment. For example, Volvo is testing the all-electric construction site and we will surely get to see the (positive) end results of that. Caterpillar is also working on a hefty electric excavator, as a precursor to a whole line. We are going to hear less and less about hybrid drives.

Green gas and hydrogen
Things are different in trucks, where the emphasis is more on green gas and hydrogen as an alternative to diesel. Iveco recently gave a good example at the large IAA truck show in Hanover. There, the entire booth was made "diesel-less," there were only trucks with alternative drives. South Korea's Hyundai is already far advanced with hydrogen engines. Electric driving is mainly for vans and urban distribution and not for long-distance transport.

More than ever before during Bauma, we will be looking under the hood.

Autonomous movement
Autonomous "movement" is also attracting strong interest. With trucks this is happening faster than with construction equipment, but the direction is unmistakable. On the one hand because of growing shortages of skilled drivers and operators, on the other because of the higher production, (finishing) quality and fuel savings that can be achieved with it. Komatsu, Hitachi, but also Volvo CE are some examples of brands that are leading the way in this area.

Media Dialogue
We will get more concrete news about Bauma 2019 at the end of January, when the international trade press will get a preview of the news and developments we will see at the equipment trade fair from a hundred or so companies at the Media Dialogue in Munich. 

When the big dumper starts "roaring" at Liebherr, you can almost literally walk over heads. That will only get more so this year, as more than 600,000 visitors are expected at Bauma.

It gets very crowded in Munich
A few more months, then hundreds of thousands of equipment experts from all over the world will travel to Messe München. There, from April 8 to 14, Bauma 2019 will be held, the still largest equipment trade fair in the world.

According to the fair organizers, interest is enormous. There are two new halls, expanding the exhibition space by 9,000 square meters. As a result, the number of exhibiting companies may rise to the record high of over 3,500 from 55 countries (3,423 in 2016). The number of visitors will also break a record, as more than 600,000 are expected (about 580,000 in 2016).

On that note, hotel rooms are already scarce and incredibly expensive during trade show week. And good alternative can be the organizers of trade fair tours, such as TradeFairs.be and Anko fair tours in cooperation with Van Ekeris Expo Service, Bauma's representation in the Benelux. Bauma is open from Monday April 8 to Friday April 12, 2019 from 09:30 to 18:30, on Saturday April 13 from 08:30 to 18:30 and on Sunday April 14 from 09:30 to 16:30. Detailed information can be found at www.bauma.de.