Following the official unveiling in February 2026 in Xuzhou of two super large battery electric machine prototypes for customer Fortescue – the XC9260BEWL (battery electric wheel loader) and a sister machine, the XC9260BEWD (battery electric wheel dozer) – testing of these units in China at XCMG’s testing grounds continues before shipping to the Pilbara in Western Australia in the coming months.
They have now been joined by two additional machines – the XDE150E battery water truck, which is based on the XCMG XDE150 136 t mining truck chassis, along with a battery grader, the GR350EP. The XDE150E (sometimes referred to as the XDE150ES to distinguish it from the electric XDE150E mining truck) is cited by XCMG as the world’s largest electric powered water truck, designed for green dust suppression and efficient operation in ultra-large open-pit mines.
The GR350EP is equipped with a 528.6 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, delivering 6-8 hours of continuous performance. It also offers dual-gun fast charging for quicker turnaround. The grader has a mouldboard width of over 5 m and a travel speed of up to 42 km/h.
IM Editorial Director Paul Moore in Xuzhou at XCMG HQ with the battery GR350EP grader
Of course, the most anticipated addition to the line up for Fortescue is yet to come – the all battery version of the 240 t class XDE260. This will form roughly half of the battery electric large mining truck fleet for Fortescue – around 150 to 200 units; the other 150-200 units being 240 t battery electric T 264 trucks from Liebherr. The first XDE260E trucks are set to be ready for testing in 2027 before being shipped to Fortescue in 2028.
Liebherr for its part has already shipped over 100 diesel electric T 264 mining trucks to Fortescue which are already in use across multiple operations including Iron Bridge and Eliwana plus its Green Energy Hub testing area at Christmas Creek. The 100 unit milestone was reached earlier this year. The first battery electric units are understood to be conversions of these existing trucks that will take place in Australia with a Fortescue Zero battery power system, with the initial trucks set to be running by end-2026.
Liebherr originally had the contract for all of Fortescue’s battery mining truck requirements up to around 360-400 units dating to a signing in September 2024 at MINExpo – Fortescue subsequently passed half of the truck order to XCMG in 2025 with Fortescue Founder and Executive Chairman Dr Andrew Forrest stating at the time: “China is scaling and manufacturing green technologies at unprecedented speed and our partnerships give Fortescue access to that capability.”
The post Testing of large XCMG battery prototypes in China for Fortescue ongoing appeared first on International Mining.