E-quipment highlight: Tiger electric baggage tug hauls 30 TONS [video]

This is a story about airport equipment, not something that touches your own house, but it's a good look at where electric power is spreading. A company called Waev has an electric baggage tug, the Tiger Li-Ion, that can haul up to 60,000 pounds and runs on a 48 kWh battery pack for up to 60 miles a day. It replaces the diesel tugs that pull luggage carts (and sometimes planes) around airport tarmacs.

The appeal is mostly about cost and emissions at the airport level. Waev says each electric tug saves fleet operators more than $19,000 a year in fuel and cuts more than 3.5 tons of carbon emissions annually, savings that add up when an airport runs dozens or hundreds of these machines. The tug can recharge on a standard 120-volt outlet or a 240-volt, 50-amp Level 2 charger, so it doesn't need special charging infrastructure.

None of this changes anything about home energy upgrades or rebates. It's simply a sign of electric vehicles and equipment expanding into heavy-duty, commercial uses well beyond passenger cars, in this case ground support gear at airports.