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WORLD'S LARGEST ELECTRIC TRUCK NEEDS ALMOST NO RECHARGING
The world’s biggest electric vehicle is a giant dump truck that relies almost entirely on energy produced by its own braking system, requiring only minimal recharging.
Called the “eDumper,” the world’s largest electric vehicle is actually a converted Komatsu 605-7 HD dump truck whose diesel engine has been replaced with an electric motor and a giant battery. It was a joint venture of several Swiss companies and universities. Creating the largest and most powerful electric vehicle in the world took approximately 18 months and was first presented in 2018 when it performed its “maiden voyage” at a quarry in the Swiss state of Berne.
The eDumper features the largest battery ever produced for an electric vehicle. The battery weighs 4.5 tons, which makes it about as heavy as two normal passenger cars. The truck itself weighs 58 tons, when empty, and can carry a payload of 65 tons. It is actually this incredible weight that allows the eDumper to generate its own power.
Looking for fuel economy may seem silly in the case of mining trucks the size of the eDumper, but it was actually one of the focal points of this project. When designing the world’s biggest EV, the team knew that it would operate in a quarry, transporting heavy rocks from a higher mining area to a lower processing plant. So, they decided to use the energy generated during its descent to power its return trip back up the quarry slope.
When descending fully loaded, the eDumper generates electrical energy from its special braking system and stores it in its giant battery instead of releasing it into the environment as heat. The bigger the weight, the higher the brake energy generated, and at its maximum weight of 123 tons, it can generate enough energy to power itself back up the quarry slope.
The eDumper can transport over 300,000 tons of rock per year, which means that, in 10 years, it will have protected the atmosphere from 1,300 tons of CO2 and saved 500,000 liters of diesel.
Although originally designed as a self-sufficient vehicle, the eDumper cannot generate 100 percent of the energy it uses every day, especially in the winter, when battery operation is not optimal. Because of this, the world’s largest electric truck has to spend a short period of time on the charger every day.
It is also worth pointing out that the cost of the eDumper is roughly 2.5 times that of a typical diesel-powered Komatsu 605-7 HD dump truck, which makes it a questionable investment for most companies.
Although it is not yet cost-effective to rely on electric dump trucks, the eDumper is proof that going electric is certainly possible, even in the case of large vehicles like quarry mining trucks.
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