Caterpillar looks toward the next century at CES 2025

Caterpillar is launching its Centennial Celebration during CES 2025, providing visitors a spotlight on the company's global impact over the last century, and imagining into the future. Caterpillar's exhibit, "The Next 100 Years: Experience What's Possible," will feature a combination of technologies and professional insight designed to highlight some of the ways Caterpillar is evolving with the industry through the energy transition.

"Caterpillar was founded in 1925 with an innovative spirit, aimed at helping our customers overcome practical problems and challenges. Over the past 100 years, the company has built on a revolutionary legacy — creating industry-leading products, technologies, services, and solutions," says Rob Hoenes, senior vice president of Caterpillar's Electrification + Energy Solutions division.

Retrofitting for the future

Taking center stage at the Caterpillar exhibit will be a 55,000-pound Cat 972 Wheel Loader featuring a technical demonstrator Extended Range Electrified Machine hybrid retrofit. The demonstrator maintains or exceeds the performance of a diesel machine and does not require DC charging. The retrofit could eliminate the need for additional electrical infrastructure at job sites.

"What sets this demonstrator apart from other Cat battery electric machines is an additional power source," says Rob Janssen, vice president and general manager of Caterpillar's Electrification + Energy Solutions division. "In this case, it's a conventional diesel generator running AC power to a rectifier, which converts energy from AC to DC. The energy created is used to charge the battery, drive the machine or both."

Additional key features of the demonstrator:

• Cat machines nearing end-of-life can be rebuilt and repowered in a way that allows them to function as part of a reduced-carbon future.

• Can be driven on 100 percent zero emission battery power for several hours. For extended operation, the machine can operate on hybrid mode with electricity generated from an onboard gen set.

• An option for customers looking to lower emissions, but not ready to go all-in on battery electric.

• Charges overnight on a regular utility grid connection at 240V.

Visitors to the Caterpillar exhibit will also experience a virtual job site of the future showcasing examples of the infrastructure required to support electrified job sites, varying charging schedules, and the complexities of a job site powered by the full Caterpillar ecosystem.

Key technologies featured in the exhibit:

Cat Command
A remote operating station on the show floor will allow attendees to operate Cat machines physically working at the Caterpillar Tinaja Hills Demonstration and Learning Center in Green Valley, Arizona, 445 miles away.

Vision Link
The cloud-based software application is designed to take the guesswork out of fleet management by providing key insights to maximize performance — regardless of fleet size or equipment manufacturer. Actionable equipment performance data is delivered to a customer's desktop or mobile device to help customers make informed decisions geared toward analyzing performance and improving productivity.

"Our industry-leading digital capabilities convey a distinct competitive advantage. Our customers have autonomous haul trucks working 24/7 around the world and have moved nearly nine billion tonnes," Hoenes added. "We also offer autonomous dozers, drills, wheel loaders, and compactors. Our customers are using these technologies to increase the efficiency, output, safety — and ultimately, the value — of their operations."

Another exhibit feature, the Centennial Corridor, will allow visitors to experience the Caterpillar legacy firsthand. The company's first 10 decades will be represented, enabling attendees to recognize the significant role Caterpillar has played in building a better, more sustainable world and its contributions to society at large.