The 21st China International Coal Mining Technology Exchange and Equipment Exhibition, held in Beijing on October 28, served as the stage for a significant leap in mining technology. Tonly Heavy Industries, a prominent mining truck original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and EACON, a leading agnostic autonomous haulage technology provider, unveiled the EQ100E, a distributed drive, all-battery electric, autonomous, and cabless mining truck. This launch underscores the growing momentum of advanced mining technologies in China, following earlier this year’s showcase of XCMG’s fleet of 100 ‘Huaneng Ruichi’ all-electric, cabless, and autonomous mining trucks at the Yimin coal mine.
The EQ100E boasts an impressive array of features designed to enhance operational efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability. With a 100-ton (91 t) payload, the truck is equipped with eight cameras and four LiDARs for 360° perception, ensuring comprehensive environmental awareness. Its distributed electric drive, delivering 1 MW of power, improves slope-climbing by 35%, while the redundant hydraulic brake system reduces stopping distance by 5%. The truck offers 801/1,056 kWh battery options, supporting both charging and swapping, and its driverless design ensures physical isolation from hazardous environments.
The EQ100E’s core advantages—”accurate sight, fast running, braking, and stable steering”—are achieved through the integration of distributed drive, pure electric zero-carbon technology, and an all-terrain unmanned control system. This combination enables a higher level of operational economy, environmental adaptability, and essential safety in complex mine scenarios. The truck is outfitted with an all-weather terrain sensing system, a megawatt-scale full-time electric drive, an all-hydraulic redundant braking system, and intelligent torque vector control. It achieves real-time optimization of economic speed planning and microscopic dynamic torque coordination through intelligent energy management and cloud scheduling.
The launch event attracted a distinguished audience, including Zhang Jianming, Vice-Chairman of the China Coal Society; Kong Liang, Under-Secretary-General of the China Mining Safety Association; Liu Lilong, Secretary-General for the Mines Professional Committee of the China Cement Association; Li Hongzhu, Dean of the School of Electronic Control at Liaoning University of Engineering and Technology; and various industry experts and representatives. Kong Liang emphasized the industry’s consensus on “mechanized replacement, autonomy-driven reduction of personnel, intelligent, and unmanned” operations, highlighting that these principles are driving firm policies to improve mine safety. He noted that the release of the EQ100E marks a transition from the technical verification stage to a new era of building a mature, replicable systematic solution for unmanned mining.
Xu Yanan, Founder and major shareholder of Tonly Heavy Industry, described the EQ100E as the result of continuous innovation, signaling a new stage in mine transportation characterized by distributed power, pure electric drive, and driverless operation. This paradigm shift promises safer, more efficient, and greener transport in mining. Lin Qiao, EACON Mining VP, underscored the importance of a completely new unmanned truck design, from the underlying architecture to control logic and operating mode. He asserted that the EQ100E solves the main challenges at a genetic level, enabling safe and efficient operation in complex mining environments.
As of September 2025, over 2,000 Tonly autonomous mining trucks are in operation, a testament to the company’s pioneering role in China’s wide-body dump trucks for mining. Tonly’s products have been exported to more than 50 countries, with over 60,000 units delivered. Since their strategic cooperation began in 2019, Tonly and EACON have continued to drive innovation in the industry. The launch of the EQ100E represents another milestone in the intelligent transformation and upgrading of mines. Looking ahead, EACON plans to collaborate with Tonly and other eco-partners to develop key technological advancements and standard systems, moving unmanned mine transportation from single-point breakthroughs to system integration. This progress is expected to help China’s mining industry achieve safer, greener, and more efficient high-quality development.
The introduction of the EQ100E and similar technologies is likely to accelerate the adoption of autonomous and electric vehicles in the mining sector, not only in China but globally. This shift could lead to significant improvements in mine safety, operational efficiency, and environmental sustainability. As the industry moves towards unmanned mining, the focus will be on developing comprehensive, replicable solutions that can be integrated into existing and new mining operations. The collaboration between OEMs and technology providers like Tonly and E