VIDEO of the Week: Cat unveils two all-new D6 dozers, one with electric drive

It’s the mother of all options. Do you want your next Caterpillar D6 dozer with a standard powertrain…or an electric drive?

Caterpillar gave us a sneak peek at this dynamic duo at the Trimble Dimensions 2018 conference in Las Vegas. (The rest of the world saw them in Peoria the next week.)

The new D6 dozers will serve as the replacement models for the D6T dozer and come with all new frames, blades, push arms, engines, hydraulics, undercarriages, and grade control.

“Very similar in terms of weight and horsepower (to the D6T), but don’t let me kid you,” says Sam Meeker, Cat product application specialist. “These things are all brand new from tip to tail.”

But most significant, the D6XE version is powered by a hybrid electric drive system. Caterpillar pioneered the world’s first electric drive dozer in 2009 with the debut of the D7E. What makes the D6XE unique is that it uses Cat’s trademark elevated drive sprocket design. (The earlier D7E used a traditional oval undercarriage.)

Enjoy this first look at the new Caterpillar D6 and D6XE dozers in the video below.

(As a side note, you’ll notice that these new machines bear Cat’s new machine branding design. The D6 and D6XE are the first we’ve seen of the new hexagon-toting machine branding in the wild.)