Rio Tinto Begins Battery Swap Electric Truck Trial At Oyu Tolgoi Mine With SPIC Qiyuan

(RTTNews) - Rio Tinto, in collaboration with China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Qiyuan, has launched a pioneering trial of battery swap electric haul truck technology at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. This marks Rio Tinto's first deployment of battery swap electric trucks in surface mining, representing a significant step toward reducing emissions from its haulage fleet—one of the largest contributors to its Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint, the company said in a statement.

Over the past year, the companies have delivered and installed a fleet of eight 91-tonne Tonly electric trucks, supported by 13 high-capacity batteries (each 800 kWh), a battery swapping station, a static charger, and the necessary infrastructure. These trucks will be used for tailings dam construction and topsoil transportation, giving Rio Tinto direct operational experience with battery electric vehicles and swap charging systems.

The battery swapping technology enables a depleted battery to be replaced in under seven minutes, eliminating the need for lengthy charging at fixed stations. This approach significantly reduces downtime and enhances fleet efficiency.

The trial will continue through the end of 2026, allowing Rio Tinto to evaluate the feasibility of broader adoption across its global fleet of 700 haul trucks. Notably, around 100 of these are small to medium class vehicles (100-200 tonne payload), which are well-suited for current-generation battery swap systems.