Genie’s Z

Genie’s newest boom lift is parts Prius and parts Tesla.

Similar to a Prius, the new Genie Z-60/37 FE has a small engine coupled to a generator and battery pack and can run off either or both. But where the Prius offers only fuel economy, this new Genie lift offers fuel efficiency and high performance—hence the Tesla comparo.

We introduced you to the Z-60/37 FE in the wake of Bauma where it got a bit lost in the shuffle of that massive show. But after a recent visit with Genie in Seattle, we’ve got many more details to share on this innovative lift.

For starters, the Z-60/37 FE gets its fossil-fueled kick from a 24-horsepower, Kubota D1105 diesel engine—a powerplant that’s half the size of the typical engine for this class of aerial lift.

But when it comes to performance, the Z-60/37 FE can give you a full day of work in the in the all-electric mode, or a full week of work on a single tank of diesel in the hybrid mode.

The system couples the output of the engine to a generator and brushless AC motor that will direct power to the drive and lift functions, or to charge the batteries, or both. Smart control systems combine the diesel power with energy from the batteries for boosted drive and traction.

Each wheel has an independent drive motor mounted on an oscillating axle. Since the motors run on AC current, they can be fully sealed and even submerged in water without affecting performance, says Adam Hailey, product manager, Terex AWP. The 30-volt, AC drive motors create 3,600 foot-pounds of torque each. In the purely electric mode they consume up to 300 amps each, but switch to the hybrid mode and you get an additional 200 amps to boost gradability and performance.

With all four wheels getting independent 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 additional power to the wheels that still have traction.”

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-60/37 FE. “You mitigate the problem of having a dead battery because you get full performance while running 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-60/37 FE can go from a dead battery to 80 percent charged in four hours, Hailey says.

The cost and complexity of Tier 4 Final emissions requirements were significant factors that pushed Genie in the direction of hybrid technology.

The Kubota is fuel efficient, but also falls below the threshold for new Tier 4 Final emissions 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 complexity 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-60/37 FE is competitively priced and close to the cost of a conventional machine.

The Z-60/37 FE 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.

The Z-60/37 FE 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 standard 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 sliding midrail opposite the gate, giving you three entry points.

Foam-filled, all-terrain tires come standard, and you can order non-marking tires for indoor work as an option.

The machine travels up to 25 percent faster than comparable models and offers 45 percent gradability 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.