The truck runs on a diesel-electric hybrid power system, and it has been engineered to carry a high payload with a lighter-than-average structural frame. It may sound like an ad for the latest “green” pickup, but this truck consumes hundreds of gallons of fuel per hour, and its payload is measured in the hundreds of tonnes.
In an industry in which productivity and cost-per-tonne are everything, the designers of Liebherr’s prototype TI-274 mining truck always are looking for a little more efficiency. The truck currently is being put through its paces at Liebherr’s testing grounds near Emporia, Va., and, depending on its performance, may form the basis for an expanded TI line of super-sized mining trucks.