On the Eve of the Explosion of New Energy Mining Trucks! Who will Seize the Opportunity in 2025?

“The duck knows first when the river water warms in spring, and the market warms up as expected”
The work after the holiday is on track. Due to the late start of the mine, the start of the mining truck market is relatively delayed, with obvious delays.
Although some companies have delivered new sand and gravel mines this month, most of them are digesting orders signed last year.
What do you think about the market situation of new energy mining trucks this year? Are you optimistic or reserved?
Presumably, due to the lack of detailed data, it is difficult for everyone to make an accurate judgment. We can only speculate on the unknown full picture of the current electric mining truck market through the known market sales-this small “tip of the iceberg”.
This month, Xinjiang’s large order ignited the domestic construction machinery market and injected a shot in the arm for the industry. The arrival of the explosion period of new energy mining trucks in 2025 is not groundless, but has the solid support of big data.

In order to eliminate doubts and boost confidence, the author, based on many years of professional experience, integrated industry information, followed the market expansion path of leading companies in the field, deeply analyzed the development trend of new energy mining trucks, and looked forward to the prospects of the industry.

With the continued efforts of the “dual carbon” policy and the in-depth promotion of carbon reduction measures in the mining industry, new energy mining trucks are gradually standing at the center of the stage of green mine energy conservation and emission reduction, becoming the core force of industry transformation.
2025 is a critical year. The new energy mining truck market has entered a turning point and is about to usher in an explosive period. Behind this trend, there is not only the strong promotion of policy dividends, but also the double “favorable” support brought by technological iteration and cost reduction.

At present, ecological protection and cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the main themes of social development, and the road to green transformation of the mining industry is imperative.

Against this background, new energy mining trucks are receiving high attention and attention from many parties due to their outstanding advantages such as environmental protection, low consumption and high efficiency.

From the previous policy drive to the current technology leadership, new energy mining trucks have ushered in the node of industry ecological reconstruction and development opportunities.

The continuous progress of new energy three-electric technology will promote the transformation of mining operations from “single equipment upgrade” to “full-link intelligence”.

In the context of continuous release of policy dividends and diversified technology routes, new energy mining truck companies with technology integration capabilities and global layout will dominate the market direction.

Around 2018, the electric mining truck market was in its early stages of launch. Yutong Mining Truck, Xugong Machinery, Iridium Molybdenum Technology, Luoyang Molybdenum and other companies have successively launched new energy mining trucks based on their own advantages.

With the competition of a number of leading companies, new energy mining trucks are steadily developing towards intelligent control, diversified power, and large tonnage.

At the same time, with the accelerated iteration of electric drive technology, the ability of new energy mining trucks to cope with complex working conditions is becoming more and more mature.

In the actual operation of the mining area, the significant characteristics of new energy mining trucks such as energy saving, high efficiency, and low noise are constantly magnified, providing strong support for the green transformation and cost reduction and efficiency improvement of mines.

In order to encourage the elimination of traditional fuel mining trucks with national emission standards of III and below, local governments have begun to provide high subsidies for new energy vehicles (taking Anhui and Jiangxi provinces as examples, they have issued support policies for new energy mining trucks in 2024 to encourage the use of electric mining trucks and increase the electrification rate of mining machinery).

This means that the future market demand and application scenarios of new energy vehicles will continue to expand.

In the second half of last year, the new energy mining truck market entered a period of rapid growth, attracting traditional engineering machinery giants and many new forces to compete on the same stage.

So, who is leading this segment?

As a new “species” and green transportation capacity, the pure electric mining truck industry has not had a long development history. It has only been 7 years since the first pure electric mining truck was put on the market.

Tracing back to the source, the first pure electric mining truck was successfully launched, thanks to the long-term accumulation and precipitation of the three-electric technology in the new energy bus industry.

When reviewing the development of the electric mining truck industry, Yutong Mining Truck, as an industry benchmark, cannot be ignored. This is a topic that is difficult to avoid.

As the earliest company in China to engage in the research and development and production of new energy mining trucks, Yutong Mining Truck has completely self-developed its three-electric system. Adhering to the concept of technology sharing and empowering the development of mines, Yutong Mining Truck has developed the first pure electric mining truck in China, YTK90E.

During the trial period of the first generation of products on the market, the reliability of both the three-electric system and the chassis suspension was generally better than similar products, leading the electric mining truck industry.

Is the chassis quality of an electric mining truck strong enough? Is the matching of the three-electric system reasonable? You can tell the pros and cons by trying it in the mine. Experienced drivers can give fair evaluations after driving dozens of trucks of ore for several days.

Two years ago, at several mining transportation sites, I had the opportunity to have in-depth face-to-face exchanges with electric mining truck test drivers. During the trial period, Yutong mining trucks gave them a better experience than other brands.

The mining truck is equipped with a standard cab for buses, and the internal functions are humanized, which brings convenient control and driving comfort. The electric drive system developed for mining roads can maximize the efficiency of kinetic energy recovery.

Although the same number of vehicles are running on the same loading and unloading platform, it consumes less electricity than other models. These information feedbacks left a deep impression on the author.

This is because in the initial stage of the electric mining truck market, in order to dispel the doubts of potential customers and show the advantages of electric vehicles such as energy saving and low noise, major OEMs have launched new car trial policies, resulting in multiple electric mining trucks competing on the same field.

Two or three brands enter the mine at the same time to carry out on-site operations, and fierce competition is common.

In the early stage when the technology was not yet mature, the three-electric system of the electric mining truck launched by the new forces had many faults. The trial use in the mine was undoubtedly a “double-edged sword” for all manufacturers.

Although we know that success or failure is unpredictable, we have to “show our sword”. If you don’t dare to try, you won’t even be qualified.

Although the strength of all parties is equal, Yutong Mining Truck can always perform stably and win. Many large orders in the industry rely on successful trials again and again, bringing customers an experience beyond expectations, and relying on excellent product quality to win orders.

Only with excellent products can we pull out, win, stay and use them.

Browsing the information of Yutong mining trucks on the Internet, we learned that its first generation of electric mining trucks are still in normal use. The first batch of mass-produced vehicles was put into use in 2019. During these 7 years, they worked in two shifts every day in the mining area.

At the end of 2024, the manufacturer conducted a health check on this batch of “go-getters”. The maximum attenuation of the power battery was only 15%, and the SOH (battery health status) was sufficient to support the vehicle to continue to operate efficiently.

In order to adapt to market changes and meet customer needs, Yutong Mining Trucks has successively launched large-capacity and large-tonnage models in the past 7 years, and new models such as YTK105E, K135E, and YTK136RE have been launched one after another.

Relying on the patented “Ruikong” technology, the integration of electrical hardware and remote upgrade of system software have been realized. Super kinetic energy recovery and self-developed electronic control system enable electric mining trucks to be low-consumption, efficient, and safe in various complex working conditions.

In 2023, during a visit to the Anhui market, the author had communicated with drivers of Yutong mining trucks and learned about the approximate amount of electricity used for each truckload of stone.

When an empty truck goes uphill and a heavy truck goes downhill, carrying 70 tons of stone for a round trip of 6 kilometers, the driver can see at a glance the amount of electricity consumed by the vehicle in one round trip. Because the battery SOC (remaining battery capacity) is displayed on the display in real time, the driver can intuitively grasp the information on power changes, and power consumption is easier to calculate than fuel consumption.

In the early stage of mining, the slope of the mining area transportation road is 8%. The empty truck climbs from the unloading port to the loading platform, and the heavy truck returns to the unloading port to dump the ore. The SOC does not decrease but increases by 1%. This is because the heavy truck recovers the stored electricity when going downhill, which exceeds the power consumed by the motor and the lifting of the cargo box when going uphill; when the road slope drops to 6%, the amount of electricity collected and discharged in a round trip is at a level state, and the SOC will not change significantly.

This ideal vehicle use scenario is common in the sand and cement mines in the southern market. The heavy-duty down-loading condition has a moderate transport distance and a reasonable slope. Even if it runs continuously in two shifts for 24 hours a day, there is no need to stop for charging in the middle, and the driver does not have the anxiety of endurance and the trouble of charging. It only needs to be fully charged once a week to perform balanced maintenance on the battery cells.

It can be seen that the advantage of pure electric mining trucks lies in energy saving and consumption reduction. The average difference between oil and electricity generated by a 105 mining truck during daily operation exceeds 1,000 yuan, and the various expenses saved in a year are about 350,000 yuan, highlighting the super economy of electric mining trucks.

As a “money-making machine” with low energy consumption and zero emissions, although the price of the new car is much higher than that of traditional fuel mining trucks, it has selling points such as energy saving, environmental protection, and low consumption, and is still deeply recognized and trusted by green mining users. The number of repeat customers has increased significantly, and the number of electric mining trucks has gradually increased from the initial 5 to 10 and 20…

In recent years, the electric mining truck market has not only increased the number of brands, but also become more diverse and complex in application scenarios. From the sand and gravel mines in Guangdong and Guangxi to the cement mines along the Yangtze River, from the iron mines in Northeast China to the lead and zinc mines in Southwest China, from the coal mines in Xinjiang to the copper mines in the Tibetan Plateau, we can see the silhouettes of electric mining trucks traveling back and forth.

In order to implement the “dual carbon” strategy, the open-pit iron mines with a century-old history in Northeast China have also begun to put pure electric mining trucks into mass production. The mines are full of various types of charging and swapping mining trucks, with a number of nearly hundreds. The market competition is obviously becoming diversified and fierce.

According to industry statistics, Yutong’s pure electric mining trucks can account for 40% of the new energy mining truck market. Its product performance is stable and its after-sales service responds promptly, which naturally wins a good reputation and has a strong competitive advantage in the electric mining truck industry.

Against this background, various OEMs have made efforts in industrial chain collaboration, technology research and development, policy inclination, etc., actively exploring ways to break through and seeking strategies to break through.

As an important “weapon” for reducing manpower, increasing safety, and improving efficiency in the current mining transportation industry, new energy unmanned mining trucks are increasingly valued by senior mine officials. The concept of “fewer people means more safety” has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and unmanned driving technology has become one of the key technologies for building smart mines.

New energy unmanned mining trucks have the advantages of safety and intelligence, cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and strong environmental adaptability. More and more large mines give priority to unmanned electric mining trucks, replacing traditional fuel mining trucks in batches, and abandoning oil for electricity is the general trend.

It is understood that some mines in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet have taken the lead in realizing the comprehensive application of new energy unmanned mining trucks, and have achieved good economic and social benefits.

At the beginning of the year, I visited a gravel mine in southwest Shandong and learned that the mine has been using unmanned mining trucks for more than two years, and there have been no accidents so far.

In order to realize the “unmanned” transportation operation in the entire mining area, the mine has invested a total of 20 unmanned new energy mining trucks. This batch of unmanned electric mining trucks and on-site service guarantee teams are all from Yutong Mining Trucks.

It can be seen that Yutong Mining Trucks not only leads the new energy mining truck track, but also shows strong strength in the field of unmanned driving in mining areas. After long-term application and technical iteration in multiple scenarios, its core technology and operational capabilities have been fully verified by the market, consolidating its competitive advantage.

In addition, technology companies in the mining area intelligent driving industry such as Easy Control Intelligent Driving and Platinum Technology have also entered the game one after another, taking root in the mining area and deepening the autonomous driving track.

In December 2024, Yutong Mining Trucks reached a strategic cooperation with Shanghai Electric Group, and 120 Yutong new energy mining trucks sailed overseas on cargo ships, which provided experience and cases for Chinese companies to “go overseas” and internationalize.

New Era, New Opportunities, New Journey

Although the current domestic mining truck market is highly competitive and the industry has entered the “Warring States Period”, product homogeneity has led to intensified internal competition, two-tier differentiation has accelerated the reshuffle, and the oligopoly effect has begun to emerge; but those car manufacturers that are driven by innovation, use scenario applications as a moat, and continue to cultivate mines will surely seize the opportunity and take the initiative in the market in this wave of changes in energy saving and carbon reduction, cost reduction and efficiency improvement in mining transportation.

New energy mining trucks not only have a broad incremental market, but also have huge potential for stock replacement. While cultivating the domestic market, we must also look to the world, actively deploy overseas markets, achieve dual-wheel drive, and go with the trend.

Looking forward to 2025, with the implementation of various favorable policies, breakthroughs in three-electric technology and the continued efforts of domestic and foreign market demand, a triple resonance will be formed. The new energy mining truck track will surely usher in a real golden development period, the market is about to explode, and the “money” prospects are unlimited.