In a massive deployment of self-driving trucks that makes most autonomous and electric vehicle deployments look tiny in comparison, Chinese heavy equipment brand Tonly just signed a deal to deliver 800 autonomous, “New Energy” mining trucks to Xinjiang Hanxiang.
While Tesla’s heavily-hyped Robotaxi fleet stalls at 17 units in Austin and a handful more roll out in Tampa and Orlando, executives from Tonly took to the stage at the brand’s Tonly Heavy Industries Xinjiang Regional Green Intelligence Mine Innovation and Development Seminar in Ürümqi to announce that it would be delivering 800 autonomous mining trucks to mining firm Xinjiang Hanxiang.
As the largest city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China, the location was fitting – and the seminar also saw Tonly and its partners in the green smart mine construction industry chain also jointly signed a Green Smart Mine Ecological Alliance strategy, according to a report from International Mining (“IM“).
“Tonly already has fleets of new energy and autonomous trucks running at many of the major Xinjiang coal mining operations including those owned by TBEA, Guanghui Energy, Xinjiang Yihua and others – where in most cases the customer is a large contract mining group,” reports IM. “Key new energy models include the Tonly TLE135 90 t payload battery electric truck which can support either high-speed plug-in charging or rapid battery-swapping technology.”
The 800 trucks set to be delivered to Xinjiang will join Tonly’s global fleet of electric mining trucks, which includes 50 examples of the 90-ton DTE145 battery electric haul truck deployed by Grupo Minero Zijin in Peru.
The truck, itself
Tonly’s DTE145 is a massive, 90-tonne-class rigid haul truck fitted with a 770 kWh swappable battery pack (up to 1,200 kWh is available) from CATL that sends power to a 620 kW (~830 hp) electric drivetrain. The DTE145 is designed around a battery-swap system that can replace a depleted pack in about seven minutes, making it ideal for quick driver swaps between shifts.
At the Ürümqi autonomous site, though, that just means the big EVs will experience seven minutes of downtime – but because there’s no “fuel tank swap” technology, that seven minute swap time means these big trucks will ready to get back to work again in less time than their diesel-powered competition.
With reduced maintenance and repair bills, dramatically lower fuel costs, and the added safety of proven autonomous technology these vehicles can deliver, it’s no wonder that major mining companies are adopting electric vehicles at a record pace. We love to see it!
Tonly DTE145 electric haul truck
SOURCES | IMAGES: Tonly, via International Mining.
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