Batteries move into hydrogen territory in heavy machinery

Dr. Wang Zhiqiang wrote on 11 October 2026 that the boundary between batteries and hydrogen in heavy machinery is being redrawn. His case is the German TADUS T16.20 electric tractor, 196 kWh with optional battery swapping, in a power class long treated as hydrogen territory.

TADUS's own datasheet, dated October 2025, sharpens the figures: 80 kW continuous and 120 kW peak power, 196 kWh of lithium-ion, 8,100 kg empty and 10,800 kg maximum weight. The document consulted states neither swap time nor charging power.

For an equipment buyer, this is residual-value risk. An asset chosen by category, heavy therefore hydrogen, can lose that premise before depreciation ends, because the comparison has moved to energy cost and the site's own infrastructure.

The practical reading is contractual: heavy machinery calls for a clause on what happens if the site's energy pathway changes halfway through the asset's life. On the hydrogen side, what holds the choice up is high year-round utilisation, which spreads the cost of production and refuelling infrastructure.