BATTERY AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The T 264 Battery Electric is continuing validation in 2026, with a large fleet set to be deployed at Fortescue’ s Australian operations by 2030
Upping the BEV ante
Speaking of Fortescue, the iron ore miner recently caught sight of two super large battery electric machine prototypes built by XCMG – the XC9260BEWL( battery-electric wheel loader) and a sister machine, the XC9260BEWD( battery-electric wheel dozer)
After a ceremony at XCMG’ s facilities in China, the machines are now being shipped to Fortescue’ s iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara of Western Australia for field application testing and optimisation.
XCMG had already produced a fourwheel independent electrical-drive loader of this size, the XC9260XE, which was at bauma 2025 – as well as a larger machine, the XC9350XE – these units have an AC- DC-AC piezoelectric transmission system.
However, these latest all-battery electric machines represent another evolution from these machines and are significant because of their zero emissions and size. For comparison, the XC9260XE has a weight of 126 t and rated load of 26 t with a standard bucket of 11.5 cu. m. The XC9350XE has a rated load of 35 t. The exact specifications of the new XC9260BEWL and XC9260BEWD have yet to be released but XCMG has confirmed the BEV loader also has a 26-t payload.
Fortescue recently caught sight of two super large battery electric machine prototypes built by XCMG – the XC9260BEWL( battery-electric wheel loader) and a sister machine, the XC9260BEWD( battery-electric wheel dozer)
XCMG had already produced a large battery wheel loader, the XC9150-EV, launched in 2025 and equipped with a 1,002 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery that supports fast DC charging. This machine has an operating weight of 55 t, a 15-t rated load and 8 cu. m bucket.
The super large battery machines form part of a $ 400 million deal signed between Fortescue and XCMG in 2024 covering over 100 pieces of zero emissions heavy mobile equipment – which would see“ batteryelectric wheel loaders, wheel dozers, water carts, float prime movers and graders delivered to Fortescue’ s Pilbara mining operations by 2030”.
This was followed in 2025 by another agreement as part of which XCMG is expected to supply up to half of Fortescue’ s future fleet of 300 to 400 zero-emissions 240 t haul trucks, with phased deliveries planned from 2028 to 2030.
Hybrid business case gains traction
While electrification and hybridisation are nothing new for ABB, the accelerating appetite for these solutions across the mining industry is.
After the completion of a retrofit project with Nuh Cement in Türkiye – a project that involved the retrofit conversion of a Nuh Cement-owned diesel-fuelled Euclid R85B haul truck into a fully electric, zeroemission vehicle – much of the ABB Traction talk focused on further battery-electric conversions of this type.
This project saw the two companies work together closely to design and build this retrofit project, which was the first time in the world that a vehicle of this size and class type had been fully electrified. In addition to overall system engineering, ABB’ s contribution to the project included a BORDLINE ® CC200, traction battery, an air-cooled traction motor, vehicle control electronics, a battery thermal management system and a DC Fast charger.
In addition to the economic efficiencies, the retrofitting of this one truck will save approximately 100,000 litres of diesel fuel and prevent 245 t / y of CO 2 emissions. The use of ABB’ s electric drivetrain solutions in place of a diesel combustion engine offers significantly lower operating costs via a reduction of both fuel consumption and maintenance requirements, ABB claims. In addition, the truck operates with higher performance, thereby increasing the vehicle’ s productivity. On-site workers also benefit from the switch to electric propulsion through reduced noise, less vibration and a cleaner work environment.
As Flavien Berthold, Global Sales Manager at ABB Traction, explained, the Nuh Cement project was exceptional in many regards.
International Mining | APRIL 2025