Rio Tinto Partners with SPIC to Test Battery-Swap Haul Trucks at Oyu Tolgoi

Rio Tinto has partnered with China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to demonstrate battery swap technology for electric haul trucks at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. The project will showcase battery swapping, which allows electric vehicles to quickly replace depleted batteries with fully charged ones, eliminating lengthy charging times.

The two-year project involves eight haul trucks with a 91-tonne payload, 13 batteries with 800 kWh capacity, and a robotic battery swap station. These trucks will be used for non-production activities at Oyu Tolgoi's aboveground operations.

Rio Tinto operates around 700 haul trucks globally and aims to reduce carbon emissions through innovative technologies like battery swapping.