These Trucks Haul 90 Tons of Coal on Battery Power—and Drive Themselves
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/these-trucks-haul-90-tons-of-coal-on-battery-powerand-drive-themselves-39b80cc3❝ HULUNBUIR, China—The self-driving electric trucks rumbling around the coal mine have battery packs so big they could power a typical American home for three weeks. The trucks operate 24 hours a day hauling up to 90 tons of coal, stopping only for six minutes to swap out their batteries for a fresh set.
On the steppes of China’s far north, where Genghis Khan’s Mongolian bands made early conquests eight centuries ago, the future of mining is on display. By the end of this year, 300 of the electric trucks are set to be operating at China’s largest open-pit coal mine.
Autonomous vehicles have been taking a bigger role at mines worldwide for years. Now, many of them are going electric, especially in China.
Diesel fuel, the main way to power trucks, has skyrocketed in price owing to wars in the Middle East. New technology makes it possible for giant trucks to swap batteries in minutes or charge quickly.
Electrifying mining fleets “is not a case of if, it’s a case of when and how do you do it,” said John McGagh, a former head of innovation at mining company Rio Tinto who now advises companies.
This follows the transition to autonomous driving, which is already nearing completion in parts of the world. Some 90% of Rio Tinto’s hauling trucks at iron-ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region are autonomous.
It is hard to find workers to operate trucks in some of the world’s most inhospitable conditions, such as the minus 40-degree Fahrenheit chill of Inner Mongolian winters or the 110-degree summer heat in the Pilbara.
At the Yimin open-pit mine in the Hulunbuir region, Inner Mongolia, a subsidiary of a state-owned company called China Huaneng produces 35 million tons of coal annually. It says it saves nearly $4 million a year by having the trucks drive themselves.
The coal-hauling trucks are made by China’s XCMG, with Huawei supplying autonomous-driving software, telecommunications equipment and computing power.
In the place of a cab for a human driver, the trucks carry a battery pack with 568 kilowatt-hours of juice. They roam a mine production area that stretches as far as the eye can see—an area of 3,500 soccer fields—with a computer algorithm telling them where to go next to pick up coal. A small team of human engineers at the control center keeps watch.
The trucks honk like a New York cabbie whenever they see a human nearby. They know how to find the nearest battery swapping station on their own.
Disneyland would be dull by comparison for any child who loves trucks. Huaneng manager Liu Qiang, who oversees intelligent-mine construction and operations, said his 6-year-old son has visited the site. “He dreams of being a truck driver. But I told him my job is to replace truck drivers,” Liu said.
Solar panels power the battery-swapping station, although the Huaneng operations are hardly a paragon of green energy. They include a coal-fired power plant with three giant smokestacks, keeping the lights on throughout the remote region.
Nearly two-thirds of new passenger vehicles sold in China are battery-electric or plug-in hybrids. Mining trucks aren’t far behind.
Eacon, a Hong Kong-listed company that provides software for autonomous mining trucks, says its battery-electric truck fleet in China has more than doubled this year to 1,800 vehicles, or 45% of the total fleet.
The transition is slower outside China, but it is picking up pace. All three of Australia’s top miners are testing battery-electric haulers. One challenge: Australia tends to use bigger trucks, with payloads of 300 tons or more.
Perth-based Fortescue is planning a fleet of hundreds of battery-powered trucks, many to be built by China’s XCMG, that will carry at least 3.4 megawatt-hours of juice—six times the capacity of the batteries in the Inner Mongolia mine trucks—and charge in 30 minutes. The first of Fortescue’s 240-ton-hauling electric trucks, made by Europe-based Liebherr, is set to enter service in December.
People in the industry caution that the transition will take time. Rapid-charging technology is still untested at large scale. Slower chargers keep trucks idled for hours and require companies to buy more vehicles for the same job. That is why Australia’s BHP plans to test a Caterpillar system that charges trucks while they are operating.
Ross McAree, who heads the University of Queensland’s mining engineering school, said replacing all the diesel used at Australian mining sites—much of it to fuel haulers—would require roughly 40 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, nearly 15% of what the entire nation currently consumes.
“It’s just a huge logistic challenge,” McAree said. “We’re talking mine sites that are thousands of kilometers from any reasonable city and not connected onto a national grid.”
Fortescue’s plans include 2.4 million solar panels by 2028. Warren Harris, head of green product delivery, said the company ran the numbers on electrifying the whole mine fleet.
The result: “The total cost of ownership now of a battery electric truck is better for the business than a diesel,” Harris said. “The battery technology has moved so fast in the last couple of years.” ❞