Comment Re:Trucks booked as sold? (Score 2) 11
No, this is a real thing. One of the first sectors to move heavy equipment to electric was mining, now they have entire mines which are all-electric and mostly-automated. Driving a mining truck or running an excavator is pretty much no-brain work, jobs fit for robots. This guy lives and works in China and writes mostly about the business environment (with occasional digressions). All of his articles are accompanied by lots of links to other reading.
https://kdwalmsley.substack.co...
The mining company deployed a fleet of one hundred fully autonomous electric trucks.
Huawei built a 5.5G network and designed algorithms specifically for open-pit coal mines, with localized maps. As a result, the smart trucks operate at 120% efficiency compared to human operators.
As more intelligent mines come online and electrify, enormous savings in fuel costs will be realized. Diesel fuel typically accounts for up to half of all operating costs for mining operations; mining trucks consume up to 100 liters (30 gallons) of fuel per hours, and overland fuel transport and storage in remote areas drive capital investment needs higher.