Cat and Komatsu will each provide one truck each to both BHP and Rio Tinto for these trials. BHP will trial the Cat trucks, while Rio Tinto will trial the Komatsu trucks. The results from the trials will be shared between the two mining companies.
In an industry first, Rio Tinto and BHP will collaborate on the testing of large battery-electric haul truck technology in the Pilbara, Western Australia, to accelerate the potential for its future deployment. The two companies will work with Caterpillar and Komatsu to conduct independent trials of their battery-electric haul trucks, including testing of battery, static and dynamic charging systems, to assess performance and productivity in their massive iron ore mining operations.
As part of the collaboration, two Cat 793 haul trucks will be trialed from the second half of 2024, and two Komatsu 930 haul trucks will be tested from 2026. Cat and Komatsu will each provide one truck each to both BHP and Rio Tinto for these trials. BHP will trial the Caterpillar trucks, while Rio Tinto will trial the Komatsu trucks. The results from the trials will be shared between the two mining companies.
Ongoing testing, development and refinement of truck and battery design is anticipated with each manufacturer. This will inform the approach for testing a larger number of haul trucks and the potential deployment of battery-electric haul truck fleets into each company’s operations. In 2021, Rio Tinto and BHP worked with both Cat and Komatsu to support the development and validation of their prototype battery-electric haul trucks. The trucks included in these trials are based on those prototypes.
