Hitachi partners with ABB to develop electric dump truck

Date: 22.07.2021

The electric dump truck will feature a customised on-board energy storage system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Hitachi Construction Machinery and ABB announced a collaboration to develop an engineless, full battery rigid frame dump truck with a customised on-board energy storage system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offer a solution towards a net zero emission pathway.

Utilising ABB’s innovative battery technology, Hitachi Construction Machinery trucks can be transformed from diesel to fully electric battery operation. The dump trucks will operate by utilising a new on-board electrification system, drawing its energy requirements from an energy supply system with dynamic charging, allowing simultaneous charging of the on-board energy storage system while providing energy to power the truck.

The system will provide extended battery longevity by reducing the load and discharge during each haul cycle, offering a cost-efficient industry solution that allows continuous operation to maintain the high productivity and performance the industry has come to expect from Hitachi Construction Machinery products, the company said.

Both companies signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2021 to build a partnership aimed at realising net zero emissions. "By utilising Hitachi Construction Machinery’s dynamic charging battery dump truck systems and ABB’s battery technology, the joint collaboration will not only help tackle the challenge of solving the issues involved in dump truck electrification but also provide a real-world climate change solution," the companies said in a statement.

Some of the features of the electric dump truck include:

• Drawing the electrical power from the dynamic charging system required during operation will limit the volume of batteries on the trucks, providing a sustainable solution.
• The system aims to reduce the lifecycle costs by drawing electrical power from the overhead system while connected, simultaneously charging the battery in an appropriate manner to reduce the load and depth of discharge, maximising battery life.
• Limiting the battery volume lessens the weight of the battery solution on the vehicle, maximising the battery dump truck’s payload capacity.
• Dynamic charging solution to provide a higher rate of operation over static charging  

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