Hitachi, ABB complete fully electric 244 ton electric prototype

A collaboration between Hitachi Construction Machinery and ABB Traction to build a massive, fully electric dump truck for extreme duty operations has reached a key stage with the completion of their first prototype.

The plan to convert Hitachi’s fleet of 2500 HP EH4000 244-ton diesel mining trucks to electric drive was originally announced back in 2021, with ABB looking at the job site from an unusual perspective. It wasn’t about the work that needed to get done, in a sense – it was about managing the energy needed to do the work. To that end, engineers at ABB and Hitachi imagined a “trolley-like” overhead power connection (shown, above, in a rendering) to help get the weighed-down trucks up and out of the mine, and use the truck’s own mass to recover energy from regenerative braking while traveling back down.

The combined trolley/gravity energy solution should enable the electric trucks to do megawatts’ worth of work without the need for massive, megawatt hour battery packs (see, below).

Hitachi EH4000 AC3 Battery prototype

“We are delighted to see our collaboration with Hitachi Construction Machinery reaching this crucial step,” explains Fabiana Cavalcante, Head of Mobile e-Power, ABB Traction. “The project is not only helping to tackle the issues involved in dump truck electrification but is also contributing to enabling a low-carbon world through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We look forward to seeing the prototype prove its capability in the Zambian copper-gold mine.”

The prototype, which has completed Hitachi’s initial, in-factory testing circuit, was shipped to the Kansanshi copper-gold mine in Africa last week. Once there, it will complete a demonstration and final testing program, with the aim of completing a new build spec later in 2024.

Electrek’s Take

ABB’s own press release says it best, perhaps. “Switching dump trucks from diesel engines to electric drive trains will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in mining operations,” it reads – which is a message we can all (hopefully) get behind.