Sandvik-owned Artisan Vehicle Systems has upped the stakes in the battery-electric underground haulage game by introducing a new 50 t haul truck.

The company made the announcement at the Digitalization in Mining event, in Australia, held by Sandvik on December 3-4, 2019.

The Z50 is based off the existing design for the Z40 truck, which Artisan released back in 2018, but features a stretched rear frame (close to 19 in) to allow for the 50 t box, an Artisan spokesman confirmed.

It has become the largest battery-powered underground truck on the market, topping the Epiroc-produced MT42 battery-powered vehicle, which has a 42 t capacity. Despite the payload increase, Artisan says the technology and design makes it the “smallest 50 t truck on the market”, generating twice the peak horsepower and one eighth the heat of its diesel equivalent.

Artisan, which was acquired by Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology last year and is now part of its Load and Haul division, also worked in some notable upgrades to the Z50 such as the solid-state electronics, the spokesman added.

It is powered by four electric motors generating 560 kW and 8,200 Nm of torque and, like the other Artisan battery-powered vehicles on the market (the A4 and A10 LHDs), uses lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry for the patented battery system.