Indonesia’s nickel industry, now the world’s largest, has found its perfect green partner: Chinese electric mining trucks. In the vast open pits of Sulawesi and Halmahera, hundreds of XCMG, SANY and Sinotruk wide-body electric dump trucks now haul laterite ore 24/7 on battery power alone.
At Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), Tsingshan Group operates 168 XCMG XDR80E trucks. Each vehicle replaces 480,000 litres of diesel per year. The park’s 600 MW captive coal power plant has been supplemented by a 300 MW solar farm dedicated to truck charging.
Wedabay Nickel ordered 120 SANY SKT105E trucks in 2025, while Harita Nickel deployed 90 units at its Obi Island operation. All deals include battery-swap stations capable of swapping a 564 kWh pack in under six minutes.
Indonesia offers 0% luxury tax and import duty on electric mining trucks until 2029. Combined with nickel prices above $18,000/tonne, the business case is overwhelming.
Chinese manufacturers have established local after-sales networks and spare-parts warehouses in Sorowako and Weda Bay. By 2027, analysts expect more than 1,500 Chinese electric mining trucks operating in Indonesia — more than the rest of the world combined outside China.
South Africa’s largest road freight operators have begun the biggest fleet electrification program on the continent. Imperial Logistics, Unitrans and Grindrod have collectively ordered more than 400 Chinese electric trucks in 2025.
Imperial took delivery of 180 Shacman X6000 6×4 electric tractors for the Durban-Johannesburg corridor. With 550 kWh batteries and 430 km range, the trucks run double-shift operations using megawatt charging at depots.
Unitrans deployed 120 Dongfeng KC electric trucks for sugar-cane haulage in KwaZulu-Natal, where biofuel electricity from bagasse keeps energy costs below R1/kWh.
Eskom’s inability to supply reliable grid power has been solved by on-site solar + battery storage microgrids built by Chinese partners. Grindrod’s Richards Bay depot features a 5 MW solar array and 20 MW of charging capacity.
South Africa’s carbon tax (R159/tonne CO₂ in 2025, rising annually) makes diesel increasingly expensive. Operators report TCO parity already achieved, with electric fleets 15-22% cheaper from day one when tax is included.
