MINING TRUCKS
transport more than 30,000 t, performing as per its development concept. Crucially, obtaining real-world operating data from the mine site provides the strongest validation for its commercialisation in 2028.
Hiroshi Kanezawa, Hitachi Construction Machinery Executive Officer, Vice President of Mining Business Unit said at the event:“ We are delighted to have successfully completed the technological feasibility trial in partnership with First Quantum and to have showcased the results to many customers. The‘ S’ in‘ LANDCROS,’ our new company name and brand effective April 1, 2027, embodies our desire to propose innovative Solutions. The realworld operating data obtained from this technological feasibility trial demonstrates the Full Battery Dump Truck’ s capability for continuous operation in actual mine sites, enabling us to propose optimal operational plans and trolley line designs. We will continue to refine this innovative technology and solutions with a view to commercial deployment in FY2027, contributing to sustainable mining operations by leveraging diverse power sources while achieving zero emissions and greater energy efficiency.”
HCM took an EH4000AC-3 truck, along with its own trolley kit system, and integrated the latest ABB battery technology and systems, to do a proof of concept then proof of value trial. Ian Cutler, HCM Global Key Account Manager:“ We’ ve had things that have gone very well, we’ ve also had things that we’ ve learned from, and we have to change for the next generation.”
In the cab, 99 % of the systems are the same as the AC-3 free diesel variant or diesel trolley variant- it’ s just got the power management system added into it. That will be incorporated into the normal dash controls in the commercial solution. Cutler:“ In terms of the trolley operation, there’ s a roughly 50-50 split between the dynamic charge going to the battery and that going to the wheels. Once it comes up to the top of the pit, it’ s actually got more than enough energy to haul to and from the dump site. Of course it isn’ t just charging from the pantograph, going down back into the pit you are effectively putting about 20 minutes worth of diesel energy equivalent back into the truck from regenerative braking – which is free green energy that is normally burnt off by the grid boxes.”
The prototype truck still has grid boxes to be able to manage a situation where the battery charge is full, especially if it is returning to the same excavator several times. Cutler said that for now it still has to have that safety system in place. He argued that the management of a future battery electric mining environment will need the right truck placement in various areas of the mine to get the best balance of regenerative power and free energy, into the battery – and that is part of the ongoing work with ABB. FQM at Kansanshi happens to have a very extensive trolley system to the point where the truck does not need to use all of it and will be able to operate with no fixed charging at all.
Cutler:“ If you are doing the first cuts, you maybe need about a 500 metre trolley line. If you’ re going down into the pit, it comes back with about 11 % more charge every time it goes to the bottom of the pit and comes back up again.”
Of course, every mine is different and the static charge will be required at most mines – it is likely that most mines will have a combination of both. HCM is also developing a hybrid system set to be tested at a large coal mine in South Africa where the truck will have a small battery and no trolley system, so all it is using is the regenerative power. The manufacture of the hybrid dump truck at the Hitachi Construction Machinery Hitachinaka-Rinko Works has already begun, with the mine site demonstration due to take place from July-December 2027. The tests will focus on verifying the basic performance of the hybrid dump truck in the operating environment, its reduction in fuel consumption due to charging and discharging, battery durability, as well as training in the repair and maintenance of hybrid dump trucks.
Cutler:“ So, there are going to be lots of options. No one size fits all, but for FQM, they’ re not interested in static charging … they do not believe the moment one of their assets stops it is saving them money.”
The commercial variant is going to be using smaller batteries with more power than the proof of concept 500 kWh battery, with more charge rate – this will allow the commercial truck to handle even more time off trolley. In more detail, the current truck has a 502 kW battery. And the voltage, the battery’ s output, is 1,200 V. It is a 4C charge rating battery, which is effectively a 2 MW capacity. And it’ s made up of individual cells. How long the battery lasts depends on the use case but in normal operations it can last for about 40 minutes without charge – but of course the idea is that with dynamic charging you are always moving and charging or moving and discharging all the time.
The current truck has ABB LTO batteries because of the stability and higher temperature of thermal runaway. LTO is more expensive at the start but also its durability is far superior to NMC or LFP – it can cycle 20,000 times, which has been proven by its use in Hitachi rail applications. However, the final HCM( by then LANDCROS) solution is likely to come in different variants with different packages and potentially different chemistries that will suit different regions.
Greg Smith, HCM General Manager, Global Technical Marketing also pointed out that there are a lot of similarities with the base EH4000AC-3 truck – the battery electric version remains a 2,500 horsepower truck with the same IGBT Hitachi AC drive system. The operating weight is also actually the same at 385 t, regardless of whether it’ s the diesel truck or the battery trolley truck, plus the maximum speed remains 56 km / h. The AC-5 HCM trucks will have a 65 km / h max speed and the BEV version of that will more than match it. The turning circles are the same. The HDC functions, which includes slip-slide control, pitch control, skid control, these are all standard functions with the AC-3 diesel as they are with the battery electric truck.
Smith:“ It’ s the modularity design concept that we use that’ s going to give us the ability to maintain retrofittability of battery technology to existing units as well.” So what’ s different?“ Obviously, it’ s going to be the battery drive system. You’ ve got your energy storage system, e-box, BTMS … the commercial versions are likely to be probably around an 8C charge version, which will give us a far greater capacity. We targeted about a five-year battery life with the proof of vale( POV) truck. The commercial version is probably like to be six to eight.” Finally, of course- the sound reduction is remarkable, especially as the truck moves off.
For the Kansanshi haul cycle, the POV has been running for 12.9 kilometres on average, and that cycle has taken about one hour with an elevation of around 390 metres … so it was a real operational and real life test. Peak trolley power is 125 kW with 495 kW per cycle consumption. Smith said to fully charge the battery under trolley would take about 10 minutes. Regenerating, going downhill empty would take 16.5 minutes to fully recharge the battery at 20 kilometres an hour, going down a 10 % effective grade.“ Of course, you don’ t need to do that – you only have to maintain enough charge to get the truck back under excavator and back to the line.” Smith also said the commercial version will have far greater variability or flexibility in distribution of energy to speed versus energy to charge.
Ray Kitic, Hitachi Construction Machinery Vice President, Mining Business Unit and Managing Director of Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia, said at the visit that the first commercial model of the battery electric truck will be the EH5000AC-5 Battery which is set for release currently in March 2028 followed by the EH4000AC-5 Battery truck in September 2028, though obviously this timeframe may move. The battery EH5000AC-5 will have traction and retarding performance equivalent to the diesel electric EH5000AC-5 and is designed to achieve
50 International Mining | JULY 2026