As intelligent systems become embedded in mining operations, new energy technologies are discovering a practical pathway for deployment. According to data available as of August 24, the number of pure-electric driverless mining trucks operated by EACON (07687) has surpassed 1,480 units, ranking first in the industry. For the first time, pure electric power has become the dominant energy type among the company's deployed autonomous haulage fleet—of the more than 3,500 driverless mining trucks in operation, clean-energy models, including pure electric and methanol range-extender variants, account for nearly 60% of the total. There are over 1,400 fuel range-extender trucks, while traditional diesel-powered vehicles have long exited the primary fleet lineup.
For an extended period, heavy payloads, high frequency, and continuous operation have defined mine haulage, with the strain on batteries and charging systems making mines one of the most challenging environments for full electrification. However, the introduction of autonomous driving has opened new avenues for the shift toward pure-electric mining equipment—when driverless systems take over the entire decision-making process of how to charge, when to charge, and who decides to charge, many of the operational hurdles previously faced by electric mining trucks transition from relying on human experience to systematic computation.
The Tipping Point for Pure Electric Within Driverless Fleets
Over the past few years, EACON's operational driverless mining truck fleet has climbed to more than 3,500 units, covering over 40 mines both domestically and internationally. Among these, the growth of pure-electric autonomous haul trucks has been especially pronounced. As early as the end of 2022, EACON deployed 20 pure-electric driverless mining trucks at the Shandong Honghe Baili Zoucheng Fushan Mine, which have now operated continuously for more than 1,200 days, making it one of the country's first projects to scale up the integration of pure electric power and unmanned operations. At the National Energy Group's Xinjiang Zhundong open-pit coal mine, 120 pure-electric driverless trucks are paired with 28 charging points, leveraging intelligent scheduling to enable efficient energy replenishment and ensure operational continuity. Meanwhile, at Zijin Mining's Tibet Julong Copper Mine, which features high altitude and extreme cold, more than 60 pure-electric autonomous haul trucks are now operating on a routine basis, further expanding the application boundaries of pure-electric solutions under demanding conditions.
From reliability and dispatch efficiency to adaptability in extreme environments, and from coal mines to metal and non-metal mines, these practical applications collectively demonstrate that pure-electric solutions have established a solid foothold in heavy-load mining scenarios.
Why Driverless Mining Trucks Are the First to Achieve Energy Independence
The passenger vehicle industry often describes the evolution as "electrification in the first half, intelligence in the second half." In mining, however, autonomous driving is no longer just a beneficiary of electrification—it is acting as an accelerator for it. The ESG transformation of mines invariably revolves around three key considerations: safety, cost, and low carbon. In complex operational environments, personnel safety remains the core requirement of mining production. At the same time, fuel consumption is directly tied to haulage costs and carbon emissions. Pure-electric power and autonomous driving thus complement each other: the former transforms the energy structure and reduces dependence on fuel, while the latter diminishes reliance on human operators in high-risk driving positions. These two technologies are not simply layered on top of one another but form a more complete value loop encompassing safety, economic efficiency, and low carbon.
Pure-electric platforms are inherently better suited to autonomous driving in terms of control coordination. Compared to diesel-powered haul trucks, electric trucks lack engines and automatic transmissions, resulting in a simpler powertrain architecture with faster motor response and higher control precision, making them more compatible with the precise power output control required by autonomous systems. Additionally, the simplified mechanical structure helps lower failure rates and enhances the operational reliability of driverless vehicles.
The wealth of operational data generated by autonomous vehicles makes energy management more evidence-based. With human drivers, differing driving habits often lead to energy consumption that varies from person to person. Autonomous driving, on the other hand, makes vehicle operation and energy performance continuously quantifiable, while also enabling fuller utilization of energy recovery under conditions such as heavy-load downhill haulage—at the Shougang Shuichang Iron Mine, 27 pure-electric driverless trucks generated 386,000 kWh of regenerative charging over the year, reducing comprehensive energy consumption by 8% to 10%.
Digital management further addresses the challenge of charging efficiency. Through the smart mine digital solution "Muye," the questions of how to charge and when to charge shift from human judgment to systematic decision-making. The system dynamically coordinates the fleet and charging resources based on factors such as vehicle battery level, production tasks, charging load, and time-of-use electricity pricing, rationally scheduling replenishment timing to reduce queue congestion caused by multiple vehicles charging simultaneously. Based on calculations from typical projects, this solution can reduce peak-hour charging volume by approximately 13% and help cut on-site manpower requirements by around 30%.
From single-vehicle intelligence to cloud-based scheduling, autonomous driving has established a comprehensive architecture for the deployment of pure-electric mining trucks: the vehicle side handles perception, decision-making, and control, while the cloud side manages energy dispatch, together forming robust support for the large-scale implementation of electrification in mines.
Policy, Economics, and Industry: The Window of Opportunity Has Arrived
The acceleration of pure-electric power as the mainstream propulsion for mines is driven not only by advancements in autonomous driving technology but also by converging policy, economic, and industrial conditions. In July 2026, the National Energy Administration, in its "Energy Sector Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Action Plan (2026–2028)," proposed strengthening the research, development, and promotion of energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies and equipment, advancing the replacement of mining transport equipment with new energy alternatives, and setting the goal of establishing a batch of zero-carbon and low-carbon coal mining areas. A month later, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration, in the "15th Five-Year Plan for Coal Industry Development," further outlined measures to orderly promote the large-scale substitution of electric heavy trucks and hydrogen-powered mining trucks in open-pit mine haulage, while simultaneously advancing the integration of source, grid, load, and storage within mining areas—signaling a shift in new energy transformation from single-equipment replacement to a full-chain restructuring of power generation, storage, and dispatch.
With policy signals becoming increasingly clear, pure-electric mining trucks are no longer just an energy choice for mining enterprises but are emerging as an operational consideration that requires careful financial calculation. The economic case for pure-electric mining trucks, bolstered by autonomous driving, is also becoming clearer. Actual application data shows that a single pure-electric driverless mining truck can save approximately 150 tons of standard coal consumption annually. Combined with the standardized driving enabled by automation, improved energy recovery efficiency, and reduced mechanical braking usage, vehicle maintenance costs and the frequency of wear-part replacements also decrease. The economic viability of pure-electric trucks extends beyond "electricity being cheaper than fuel"—autonomous driving turns energy consumption, maintenance, and wear into system-optimizable variables, and the larger the fleet, the more favorable the economics become.
Behind this transformation lies an industrial chain being redefined. Through partnerships with industry players such as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), EACON is jointly exploring an integrated energy supply model of "green power generation, on-site consumption, and intelligent dispatch," spanning from the batteries themselves to the mining area's energy systems. At the same time, the company continues to deepen collaboration with various original equipment manufacturers, drawing on over 150 million kilometers of real-world operational experience to jointly explore pure-electric vehicle architectures better suited to mining scenarios. Green power generation, pure-electric mining trucks, and autonomous driving systems are forming an increasingly close synergy, moving the concept of "zero-carbon mines" from isolated technological experiments toward systematic implementation.
For mining operators, personnel safety and low-carbon transformation are becoming common imperatives, and the business logic of "pure electric plus unmanned" is growing ever clearer and more replicable. To date, EACON's driverless mining truck fleet has cumulatively reduced carbon emissions by more than 190,000 tons, equivalent to the carbon sequestration of over 9,400 hectares of forest—a natural outcome of the system's improved energy efficiency. The shift in the energy mix of EACON's more than 3,500 autonomous haul trucks is emerging as a lens through which to observe the progress of new energy adoption in mining. From new energy becoming mainstream to pure electric rising to the top, the underlying driver is the continuous reshaping of mining transport organization by autonomous driving. Intelligence and low carbon are also moving from two parallel paths toward a single, integrated production system.