About the test program, which took place at the company’s test site in Arizona, Caterpillar reports quite a bit of information. It is known that at full load, which is not specified in the case of the battery version of the 793 model, but reaches 231 tons for the diesel-electric counterpart, the car was able to drive seven kilometers and reach a maximum speed of 60 km/h.
The loaded dump truck climbed a kilometer-long 10% uphill at a record speed of 12 km/h for such equipment, and also went down the same section, using recuperation to replenish the charge of the traction battery. For conventional mining trucks, the energy released during braking is usually dissipated as heat.
According to the manufacturer, the battery charge was not exhausted on this, and the truck retained the ability to go through several additional work cycles.
When and at what price such equipment will be delivered to customers is not specified, but the latter are already taking part in testing it in real conditions, and the main result of the Caterpillar experiment is to prove that there is a place for electric vehicles in the mining industry.
In the future, the company would like to use alternative sources of electricity in the production of its products.