This massive 121-ton electric dump truck never uses more energy than it generates on its own - here's how that works

Andreas Sutter

The eDumper was unveiled in April

• Researchers in Switzerland and a construction supply company have developed an electric dump truck that can consume less energy than it produces in certain situations.
• The 121-ton "eDumper" was unveiled in April and produces its own energy through regenerative braking on downhill runs.
• The massive machine then uses that energy to go back up the hill, but since it weighs less with no cargo, it ends up with extra energy.
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Mining is intense work.

For years, companies have relied on heavy machinery - almost all of which burns gas and diesel - to expose ore, minerals, and other materials from beneath the earth's surface and turn it into usable components.

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One company, Kuhn Schweiz AG, has found a way to do at least part of that work completely emissions-free, together with researchers from the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Bern, Switzerland and the NTB Interstate University of Technology in Buchs, Switzerland.

Enter, the "eDumper" a 121-ton electric dump truck that can consume less energy than it produces in certain situations.