This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
For the truck lovers out there - check out the BelAZ 75710 dump truck that is currently at work in a Siberian mine in the Kuzbass region of Russia. Purportedly the world's biggest dump truck, the BelAZ 75710 can transport more than 500 metric tons of material — all using four electric motors.
The truck is more than 20 meters (65.6 feet) long, almost ten meters (32.8 feet) wide, and eight meters (26 feet) high. It weighs 360 tons when empty and is powered using four Siemens 1,200 kilowatt (approximately 1,800 horsepower) electric motors. The truck also sports a top speed of 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour.
While the drive system is electric, the system itself still relies on diesel to produce the electricity used onboard. According to Siemens, whose engineers designed the electric drive system for the BelAZ 75710, the electricity for the all-wheel drive system is provided by two generators, each of which is driven by a 16-cylinder diesel engine with an output of approximately 1,700 kilowatts.
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The BelAZ 75710's design was the result of a request from the truck's manufacturer, BelAZ, for a truck that could carry 25 percent more payload than the largest truck on that market at that time at a significant cost reduction in terms of cost per ton of transported materials. According to BelAZ, the new truck boasts a 25 percent efficiency increase compared to the previous designs. The truck was unveiled in October 2013 and, after being tested in the Siberian mine over the past year, is now hitting the markets. According to Siemens, the truck will be used primarily to transport coal and iron ore-bearing rocks.
Photo credit: Siemens