These Trucks Haul 90 Tons of Coal on Battery Power—and Drive Themselves

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

China Huaneng is deploying 300 autonomous electric trucks at its Yimin open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia by the end of the year, replacing diesel-powered vehicles to reduce costs and emissions. The trucks, manufactured by XCMG with autonomous software from Huawei, carry 568-kilowatt-hour battery packs and swap batteries in six minutes while operating in extreme temperatures. The state-owned company reports saving nearly $4 million annually through this automation, which also addresses labor shortages in harsh mining environments.

Background

• Eacon, a software provider, states its battery-electric truck fleet in China has doubled to 1,800 vehicles, representing 45% of its total fleet.
• Australian miners are testing similar technology, with Fortescue planning a fleet of hundreds of electric trucks capable of carrying 3.4 megawatt-hours of energy.
• Ross McAree of the University of Queensland notes that electrifying Australian mining sites would require roughly 40 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, posing significant logistical challenges due to remote locations.
• Warren Harris of Fortescue asserts that the total cost of ownership for battery-electric trucks is now lower than for diesel vehicles due to rapid advancements in battery technology.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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