Eacon, a provider of mining technology and haulage services, has deployed 100 hybrid autonomous mining trucks at the south pit of TBEA, China’s highest-capacity coal mine.

This is said to be the largest fleet of autonomous mining trucks in a single mine worldwide. Autonomous driving in mining enhances safety, efficiency and management.

Founded in 2018, Chinese firm Eacon specialises in providing autonomous technology for open-pit mines. In 2022, it intensified its focus on new energy mining trucks and established a vehicle engineering team for power systems and chassis designs.

The autonomous hybrid mining trucks to be deployed incorporate proprietary autonomous driving technologies. These include a plug-in hybrid electric drive system, an intelligent vehicle-wide energy management system, a range extender for large-tonnage mining trucks, wire-controlled braking, and a fully hydraulic wire-controlled steering system. With 25 patented technologies, these trucks are said to offer enhanced safety, efficiency and reliability.

During operation, the trucks’ auxiliary power unit (APU) fulfils the vehicle’s normal power demands, while the power batteries compensate for transient power requirements such as climbing or acceleration. The regenerative braking system enables energy recovery during the braking process.

Through an integrated intelligent energy management control strategy and thermal management system, the mining trucks have achieved a maximum fuel saving of up to 30% in various operating conditions. These trucks have a payload capacity of 90 tons and a product design life exceeding eight years. They can conquer slopes of up to 35% and achieve a maximum speed of 45km/h.

The autonomous driving technology has been deployed across five truck models from three OEMs, including electric, diesel and hybrid trucks.

Eacon autonomous vehicles have covered a total distance of 1.93m kilometres and completed more than 460,000 trips. The company has deployed over 70 autonomous driving trucks in two open-pit coal mines and one limestone quarry. This year, it started to expand overseas, establishing an Australian subsidiary and aiming to grow globally, including markets in Australia, South America and the Middle East.