China has taken a giant leap forward in heavy-duty electric mobility with the official launch of 100 autonomous electric mining trucks at the Yimin open-pit mine—marking the birth of the world’s first 5G-A enabled autonomous open-pit mining operation.
Hosted by China Huaneng Group and backed by tech giants Huawei, XCMG, and State Grid Smart Internet of Vehicles, the launch event spotlighted next-generation advancements in intelligent mobility, including AI-powered navigation, smart battery-swapping, and real-time vehicle-cloud collaboration.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Liu Feng, Vice President of the China National Coal Association, noted that the project underscores China’s commitment to innovation-driven safety and efficiency in mining.
This is more than a milestone in automation—it’s the definitive signal that e-mobility has arrived in the world’s heaviest and harshest operating environments. Each Huaneng Ruichi truck is entirely battery-powered, cabless, and guided by Huawei’s CVADCS system. Operating in sub-zero temperatures as low as –40°C, these trucks maintain 120% of manual performance metrics while achieving near-zero emissions.
Under the “cloud-network-vehicle-charging” framework, trucks are connected to an intelligent control platform via a 5G-A network capable of ultra-fast HD video backhaul and latency as low as 20 milliseconds. AI-driven scheduling ensures continuous 24/7 operation, while automated battery swapping stations keep vehicles in motion without human intervention.
Huawei plays a central role in enabling this transformation through its AI-powered Commercial Vehicle Autonomous Driving Cloud Service (CVADCS), which delivers precise sensing, real-time fleet optimization, and autonomous route planning at scale. This is a landmark in AI-driven, end-to-end automation for smart mining, where cloud, connectivity, and electrification converge to create an entirely unmanned, highly efficient ecosystem.
Yimin’s fleet is a proof point that heavy-duty electric mobility is not just feasible—it’s more productive, safer, and greener.
