Equipment World Digital Magazine
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With all four wheels getting inde- pendent power, electronic traction control can monitor each wheel individually, says Hailey. "If you are losing traction on one wheel, it senses that and reduces the power to that wheel while sending addi- tional power to the wheels that still have traction." Never quits Range anxiety is a much talked about issue with electric-drive and hybrid cars, and likewise with previous generations of electric- drive aerial lifts. Not so with the Z- 60/37FE. "You mitigate the problem of having a dead battery because you get full performance while run- ning off the engine," Hailey says. "We can have full performance with a completely dead battery." The Genie's hybrid also offers fast charging. A similar-size non-hybrid machine might take 12 to 14 hours to fully charge, but the Z-60/37FE can go from a dead battery to 80 percent charged in four hours, Hai- ley says. Dodging the Tier 4 bullet The cost and complexity of Tier 4 Final emissions requirements were significant factors that pushed Genie in the direction of hybrid technology. The Kubota engine is fuel ef- ficient, but also falls below the threshold for new Tier 4 Final emis- sions technology. It's mechanically actuated. There is no high-pressure common rail, and there are no DPFs, DOCs, regens, SCR systems and DEF fluid to drive up complex- ity and maintenance costs. In addition to easier maintenance, the lower horsepower engines cost considerably less than emissions- compliant higher horsepower engines. The savings Genie realized from the smaller engine help offset the cost of the electric drive motors and technology. As a result, says Hailey, the Z-60/37FE is competi- tively priced and close to the cost of a conventional machine. The Z-60/37FE is the company's first hybrid. The system is scalable, says Hailey, although he declined to say when future "FE" hybrid models would be released and in what size ranges. Specs The Z-60/37FE aerial lift has an articulating boom with 66 feet of working height, 36 feet, 7 inches of outreach, and 24 feet of up-and- over clearance. A 5-foot jib is stan- dard and turns 70-degrees up and 65-degrees down and can rotate the platform 160-degrees. You can order it with a 6- or 8-foot basket and both will hold up to 500 pounds. Both offer a side entry swing gate and a front sliding midrail entry as standard. The 8-foot platform has an additional side slid- ing midrail opposite the gate, giving you three entry points. The machine travels up to 25 percent faster than comparable models and offers 45 percent grad- ability and a ground clearance of 1 foot 1 inch. It weighs just 17,000 pounds and stows in a footprint of 26 feet 9 inches for convenient transport. EquipmentWorld.com | November 2016 71 product report | continued The diesel engine can power the machine entirely by itself, but also couples to a generator that powers the batteries, hydraulics and AC drive motors. The 5-foot jib can rotate the basket 160 degrees. Each wheel gets its own AC drive motor mounted on an oscillating axle. When slippage is detected on one wheel, the control system redirects power to the wheels with better traction.