Trucks equipped with hybrid drive technology called the eHighway system was displayed at bauma 2013 and provides an energy efficient method of connecting pits and mines to storage and transhipment areas. Mines can reduce demand for fossil fuels and achieve greater reliability with regard to energy costs due to the electrification of mine equipment. The concept is based on trucks equipped with hybrid drive technology for electrical operation on an overhead contact line. The vehicles feed their regenerative braking energy back into the power network and thus make it available to other hybrid vehicles. Hybrid trucks will use a conventional drive system such as a diesel motor on non-electrified road sections and will use an intelligent current collector to transmit the electric energy from the overhead contact line to the vehicle. Travel within the electrified traffic lane is thus compensated automatically. The trucks can connect or disconnect from the overhead contact line in standstill mode or at usual truck speeds.

The full performance and suitability of this electromobility concept for daily use has already been tried and tested during trips on a test route specifically set up for the related system tests – independent of the load and environmental conditions. The studies and tests undertaken so far have clearly demonstrated that the concept has potential to provide an economically and ecologically sustainable solution for heavy road freight haulage in the mid-term. What matters now is to further develop the tested technology towards series production. Integrating the current collector technology into vehicles, testing the drive components and setting up an integrated overall system including suitable automation and control is the next step for Siemens.