A Komatsu HD605-7 quarry hauler with a tipping trailer has a diesel-fuel capacity of 206 gallons. Some engineers in Switzerland want to change that to zero gallons. With funding from the Ciments Vigier cement-production company, battery supplier Lithium Storage and construction equipment supplier Kuhn Group are working together to create an all-electric mining truck that not only eliminates diesel emissions, but potentially creates energy to add back into the grid as well. They’re calling it the E-Dumper. Stop giggling.
Goofy name aside, the project starts with a used Komatsu HD605-7, which typically uses a turbocharged direct-injected six-cylinder diesel engine that makes 715 horsepower and 2452 lb-ft of torque. Powering a vehicle that has tires that are about as tall as a person, the diesel-powered Komatsu has a top speed of 44 mph. But speed is not of concern for these vehicles, and certainly not for this application. Range and efficiency are. The builders of the E-Dumper claim it will be the biggest battery-electric vehicle ever created and will house the biggest electric battery pack a vehicle has ever seen. The hopeful claims even go as far as to predict that the truck will produce an energy return that can be dumped and stored after each work day. The E-Dumper, which Ciments Vigier expects will have a work life of about 10 years, will have a battery pack that can store up to 700 kWh (the Chevrolet Bolt EV, by comparison, has a 60-kWh battery). The pack i...