Electrification of hydraulic cylinders
From hydraulic cylinder to intelligent electric cylinder
Hydraulic cylinders in industrial trucks and agricultural machinery
With the ongoing electrification of drivetrains, the question of alternatives to widely used hydraulic actuation systems is being asked more and more often.
SPAT® offers compact, high-performance drives for electric cylinders that are specifically optimised for on-board power systems (12 / 24 / 48 V) in battery-powered vehicles. This enables clean, efficient and intelligently controllable cylinder systems that can replace hydraulic cylinders in many applications.
Hydraulics in mobile use: proven – but with side effects
Hydraulic cylinders offer high power density and have been the standard for decades. In mobile machinery, however, typical drawbacks become apparent:
Leakage & contamination
Oil losses lead to contamination of machines, workshop floors or ground surfaces – critical in logistics, food environments and agriculture.Energy losses in operation
Throttling losses at valves, line resistances and leakage cause part of the drive energy to be dissipated as heat in the oil – especially in battery-powered vehicles this wastes valuable range.Maintenance effort & downtime
Oil changes, filters, hoses, seals, venting – plus faults caused by contaminated or overheated oil. This ties up maintenance resources and can lead to unplanned downtime.Complex infrastructure
In addition to the actual cylinder, a power pack, tank, valve blocks, hoses and cooling are required. This costs space, weight and increases the complexity of the vehicle.
Wherever high forces, long strokes and extremely tight installation spaces do not strictly require hydraulics, it is worth considering an electric alternative.
Überall dort, wo hohe Kräfte, lange Hübe und extrem kompakte Einbauverhältnisse nicht zwingend Hydraulik erfordern, lohnt sich die Frage nach einer elektrischen Alternative.
Electric cylinders with integrated SPAT® drives
Instead of oil, valves and hoses, electromechanical cylinders use a screw drive, electric motor and electronics. SPAT® supplies compact drives with high power density that can be mounted directly on the cylinder.
Our drive concepts for electric cylinders are based on the SPAT MDS platform and are specifically designed for mobile on-board networks:
12 / 24 / 48 V DC, depending on vehicle and battery system
Power range up to approx. 5 kW for demanding lifting and adjustment functions
Motor, absolute encoder, drive electronics and holding brake integrated into a compact, decentralised drive system
Bus-capable interfaces (e.g. CANopen) for direct connection to vehicle controllers
Configurable profiles for position, speed and force
This turns the cylinder into an intelligent mechatronic module that operates without a separate hydraulic infrastructure and can be controlled like any other electric axis in the vehicle.
Recover energy instead of heating oil – recuperation during lowering
Especially in lifting applications in industrial trucks or on attachments of agricultural machines, lowering the load generates usable energy. In hydraulic systems, this energy is usually “destroyed” in throttling valves and oil heating.
With an electrically driven cylinder, things look different:
When lowering, the motor operates in generator mode.
The energy flows back into the DC link or directly into the battery.
Depending on the load profile and number of cycles, this can significantly improve the overall efficiency of the vehicle.
For battery-electric industrial trucks and compact agricultural machines, this means: more range, fewer charging cycles and an improved CO₂ balance for the overall syst
Your benefits with SPAT® compact drives for electric cylinders
Clean operation without hydraulic oil – ideal for logistics, food environments and agricultural land.
Lower losses than in hydraulic throttling sections, plus recuperation during lowering.
Motor, electronics, absolute encoder and holding brake mounted directly on the cylinder – minimal cabling and control cabinet effort.
Accurate positioning and speed profiles, independent of oil temperature, viscosity and valve characteristics.
Designed for 12 / 24 / 48 V DC, bus-capable and compatible with modern vehicle controllers.
No oil changes, no filters – instead, condition monitoring via current, temperature, cycle counts and status information.
Typical application areas for electric cylinder systems
Industrial trucks
Agricultural machinery
You want to replace hydraulic cylinders with electric cylinders or implement new functions directly electrically? With SPAT® drive systems for electric cylinders, you can draw on a proven modular platform: compact drive units with integrated electronics, absolute encoder and holding brake, designed for 12 / 24 / 48 V in mobile applications.
Based on this platform, we configure a solution together with you that matches your cylinder mechanically and fits your on-board power system and controller electrically – including positioning function, brake control and bus interface.
FAQ
Drive technology for electric cylinders
Answers to frequently asked questions about the electrification of hydraulic cylinders
In many cases where medium forces, limited strokes and high cycle counts occur – for example for lifting, tilting and adjustment functions in industrial trucks, as well as flap, dosing and adjustment tasks in agricultural machinery. For extremely highly loaded main working cylinders with very high power density, hydraulics can still be the better choice.
Electrified cylinder systems reduce losses, enable recuperation during lowering and work without a hydraulic power unit. This increases range and reduces energy costs. At the same time, the effort for oil, filters and leakage clean-up is eliminated.
Many solutions on the market consist of a motor plus external drive electronics that primarily control speed. Topics such as position control, end-position detection, brake control and feedback then have to be solved with additional components (limit switches, sensors, relays, external controllers) and integrated into the control system with considerable effort.
Our drives for electric cylinders follow a different approach:
Plug-and-play system instead of individual components
Motor, power electronics, absolute encoder and holding brake are integrated into a compact, decentralised drive system.True positioning function in the drive
The drive can control position, speed and motion profiles itself – end positions and intermediate positions are stored in the drive, not laboriously mapped in the PLC.Integrated brake control and feedback
Control of the holding brake and monitoring of relevant parameters (current, temperature, status) are already included in the system.Less cabling, less control effort
Instead of many individual cables to sensors, limit switches and brake relays, you ideally only need power and bus – the rest is encapsulated in the drive unit.
This turns motor plus cylinder into a complete, intelligent axis module that is significantly easier to integrate than classic motor-inverter combinations.
Depending on the version, the drives can be integrated via digital I/Os or via fieldbus (e.g. CANopen). The controller has access to position, speed, currents, temperatures and diagnostic information. This makes it easy to implement motion profiles, safety functions and service concepts.
Yes. In many projects, individual functions – such as auxiliary cylinders or flaps – are initially converted from hydraulics to electric cylinders, while central hydraulic functions remain in place for the time being. This allows electrification to be implemented step by step and with manageable risk.
Since there is no oil, no filters and no hoses, maintenance effort is significantly reduced. At the same time, the risk of leaks and the associated cleaning costs decrease. Overall, switching to electrified cylinder systems can noticeably reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) over the lifetime of the machine.