Descubra o primeiro caminhão ultragrande completamente elétrico do mundo: com 14 metros de comprimento e recarregando-se continuamente em movimento, ele está revolucionando a mineração

Discover The World’s First Fully Electric Ultra-Large Truck: With 14 Meters In Length And Continuously Recharging On The Move, It’s Revolutionizing Mining

Written by Noel Budeguer

Published on 01/07/2024 at 16:12

Descubra o primeiro caminhão ultragrande completamente elétrico do mundo: com 14 metros de comprimento e recarregando-se continuamente em movimento, ele está revolucionando a mineração

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Know The World’s First Ultra-Large Electric Truck, With A Capacity of 221 and 14 Meters Long That Operates Continuously in Zambia

Hitachi reported that the “world’s first completely electric ultra-large dump truck” is being used at an open-pit copper and gold mine in Zambia. The prototype will undergo validation testing under operational loads to verify the vehicle’s basic performance and supporting infrastructure.

A Dirty Business in The Cleaning Process

Mining is an industry that generates a lot of pollution, but we have seen several efforts to clean up its operations, at least regarding heavy machinery. Previous attempts to reduce emissions during mining operations have come from companies such as GM, Fortescue, Caterpillar, and Anglo American.

Hitachi Construction Machinery began its project in 2021, partnering with tech giant ABB “to explore opportunities for mine operators to aim for net-zero emissions from mining machines.” Development of an electric dump truck started in June of that year.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Innovation in Mining: Diesel-Electric and Electric Trucks

These diesel-electric vehicles move around the site using the internal combustion engine for power like a regular truck but can also raise a pantograph to overhead cables and operate solely on electricity. A rigid electric version with a battery would completely eliminate diesel emissions, which is particularly appealing for mining in Zambia, as approximately 92% of the country’s energy needs are met with renewable energy sources.

Fast forward to January this year, initial testing of the prototype was completed. The collaboration used a Hitachi EH4000 AC-3 model as the basis for the electric trolley prototype, measuring 14 meters in length, featuring 74-centimeter tires, powered by a 2,500 horsepower Cummins engine, and carrying a rated payload of 221 tons.

Testing and Future Expectations

Now, the fully equipped prototype has arrived in Zambia and started a technological feasibility test at the Kansanshi mine. The truck is expected to operate continuously thanks to the existing network of overhead charging lines combined with the prototype’s regenerative braking system.

While capacity figures have not been revealed, due to the dynamic charging configuration –which should eliminate the need for the truck to stop to recharge– the size of the onboard battery pack is smaller than if the vehicle were operating solely on battery and motor. This should translate into reduced production costs while maximizing payload capacity.

The development of zero emissions with battery and little to no impact on payload capacity, production, and fleet size is achievable with Trolley Assistance, and First Quantum has mastered this technology by working with Hitachi Construction Machinery’s 2,600V systems to provide stable platforms with multiple trucks on the aerial line simultaneously. This system is an operational, practical, and economically viable solution that will reduce emissions in mining for many years to come.

John Gregory from First Quantum states:

This development marks a significant step towards sustainability in the mining industry, demonstrating how collaboration among leading companies can result in technological innovations that benefit both the environment and operational efficiency.

Source: www.hitachicm.com

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Discover The World’s First Fully Electric Ultra-Large Truck: With 14 Meters In Length And Continuously Recharging On The Move, It’s Revolutionizing Mining

Know The World’s First Ultra-Large Electric Truck, With A Capacity of 221 and 14 Meters Long That Operates Continuously in Zambia

A Dirty Business in The Cleaning Process

Innovation in Mining: Diesel-Electric and Electric Trucks

Testing and Future Expectations

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Discover The World’s First Fully Electric Ultra-Large Truck: With 14 Meters In Length And Continuously Recharging On The Move, It’s Revolutionizing Mining

Know The World’s First Ultra-Large Electric Truck, With A Capacity of 221 and 14 Meters Long That Operates Continuously in Zambia

A Dirty Business in The Cleaning Process

Innovation in Mining: Diesel-Electric and Electric Trucks

Testing and Future Expectations

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

A giant brown band visible from space, approximately 8,850 kilometers long, connected Africa to America in the Atlantic Ocean, and satellites revealed that it is neither land nor pollution, but the largest accumulation of seaweed in the world, which broke records in 2025.

Brazil filled the Northeast with wind turbines but now faces the side effect of 705 giant blades reaching the end of their lifespan by 2032 just in Rio Grande do Norte, while the world projects 43 million tons of waste by 2050.

India approved the country’s first submerged road-rail tunnel, 15.8 kilometers dug under the bed of the Brahmaputra River.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

In just one cast, fishermen are surprised to capture 14,096 mullets in Bombinhas and close a historic season with 58,000 fish; scene recorded in the Santa Catarina paradise marks the last day of the 2026 season.

10 giant tortoises are reintroduced and, in just 6 months, trigger changes that lead scientists to investigate a phenomenon absent for 180 years; the numbers recorded on the island impress researchers from around the world.

Scotland creates a brick made with over 95% recycled debris, eliminates kiln firing, and attempts to reinvent a piece used in construction for almost a thousand years.

In Taipei, 1.5 million recycled plastic bottles were saved from becoming waste, turned into building blocks, and formed a nine-story pavilion for an international exhibition.

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Scotland creates a brick made with over 95% recycled debris, eliminates kiln firing, and attempts to reinvent a piece used in construction for almost a thousand years.

In Taipei, 1.5 million recycled plastic bottles were saved from becoming waste, turned into building blocks, and formed a nine-story pavilion for an international exhibition.

Man spends days sculpting a giant bathtub from a single block of natural stone and the result impresses with its precision.

Japanese city with only 1,300 residents builds a public building with donated windows, creates a zero waste center in the shape of a question mark, and turns waste into postcards.

Frank Gehry’s tower in the south of France received more than 4,000 salt panels and turned a classic construction problem into an architectural finish.