With automakers jumping into the fray, it’s hard to miss news on autonomous and electric vehicles. While electric cars have hogged all the limelight so far, the bigger vehicles have hardly hit the headlines. However, with e-Dumper, things are set to change. The biggest electric truck on the planet is here.
Big trucks and dumpers have never been good candidates as an electric vehicle. This is primarily because trucks and dumpers usually transport heavy loads across large distances. And, electric vehicles are not known for either long hauls or heavy loads. Kuhn and Komatsu’s e-Dumper changes all that. The world’s biggest electric dumper is used for extremely heavy workload associated with quarry and mining industry.
Impressive Statistics about the e-Dumper
Manufactured by Kuhn Schweiz AG in Switzerland, the e-Dumper has some impressive statistics. The truck weighs an incredible 111 tons when fully loaded. The tires are more than six feet high. Getting to the driving cabin involves climbing up nine steps. Consisting of nickel manganese cobalt cells, the battery alone weighs one-tenth of the total weight. It has a humongous power reserve of 600kWh. e-Dumper can transport 60 tons of limestone from the high-elevation extraction area to the permanently installed transport system. E-Dumper is the first truck of its kind to negotiate 13 percent inclines, even in harsh weather.
An Energy-Plus Machine
And despite its huge size and the massive power it needs to operate, the e-Dumper electric truck is an energy-plus truck. This means the e-Dumper produces more electricity than it consumes. And how does it make this possible? Well, the answer is Regenerative braking. In simple words, while going downhill the brakes do not heat; instead, the electric engine uses the energy to recharges the truck’s batteries. The truck then uses this energy for its ascent. While going up, the truck uses 30kWh, but on the way down the e-Dumper makes 10kWh of surplus power. Considering a total of approximately 20 trips by e-Dumper, the electric truck contributes 200kWh every day to the grid. The truck saves 50,000 liters of diesel each year. It also reduces the CO2 footprint by 1.3 million kgs every year.
The Path Ahead
The world is indeed moving towards an electric future. Within the next 20-25 years, policy changes are likely to mandate the move to electric vehicles. The fossil-fuel vehicles do not have a bright future ahead. Amidst such massive changes expected, e-Dumper gives us a glimpse of the things to come. It could well be the harbinger of eco-friendly heavy vehicles.
