[视频] 这些巨型矿用卡车无需驾驶员 内蒙古呼伦贝尔——在这座煤矿里轰鸣作业的自动驾驶电动卡车，其电池组大到足以供一户典型美国家庭使用三周。这些卡车每天24小时运转，单次可运送多达90吨煤炭，仅停机六分钟即可完成电池更换。
[video] These Giant Mining Trucks Don’t Need Drivers HULUNBUIR, China—The self-driving electric trucks rumbling around the coal mine have battery packs so big they could power a typical American home for three weeks. The trucks operate 24 hours a day hauling up to 90 tons of coal, stopping only for six minutes to swap out their batteries for a fresh set.
在中国最北端的草原上，成吉思汗的蒙古铁骑八百年前曾在此开疆拓土，如今这里正在展示采矿业的未来。到今年底，中国最大露天煤矿将有300辆此类电动卡车投入运营。
On the steppes of China’s far north, where Genghis Khan’s Mongolian bands made early conquests eight centuries ago, the future of mining is on display. By the end of this year, 300 of the electric trucks are set to be operating at China’s largest open-pit coal mine.
多年来，自动驾驶车辆在全球矿山中的作用日益重要。如今，它们当中许多正转向电动化，尤其是在中国。
Autonomous vehicles have been taking a bigger role at mines worldwide for years. Now, many of them are going electric, especially in China.
作为卡车主要动力的柴油，因中东战事导致价格飙升。新技术使得巨型卡车能在几分钟内换电或快速充电。
Diesel fuel, the main way to power trucks, has skyrocketed in price owing to wars in the Middle East. New technology makes it possible for giant trucks to swap batteries in minutes or charge quickly.
“矿山车队电动化‘不是会不会’的问题，而是‘何时以及如何’的问题，”曾任力拓集团创新主管、现为企业提供咨询的约翰·麦克加说。
Electrifying mining fleets “is not a case of if, it’s a case of when and how do you do it,” said John McGagh, a former head of innovation at mining company Rio Tinto who now advises companies.
这紧随自动驾驶的转型之后，后者在世界部分地区已接近完成。力拓在澳大利亚西部皮尔巴拉铁矿的运矿卡车中，约90%已实现自动驾驶。
This follows the transition to autonomous driving, which is already nearing completion in parts of the world. Some 90% of Rio Tinto’s hauling trucks at iron-ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region are autonomous.
在内蒙古零下40华氏度的严寒或皮尔巴拉110华氏度的酷暑等全球最恶劣的环境中，很难招到操作卡车的工人。
It is hard to find workers to operate trucks in some of the world’s most inhospitable conditions, such as the minus 40-degree Fahrenheit chill of Inner Mongolian winters or the 110-degree summer heat in the Pilbara.
在位于呼伦贝尔地区的伊敏露天煤矿，国有企业中国华能年产煤炭3500万吨。该公司表示，靠卡车自动驾驶每年可节省近400万美元。
At the Yimin open-pit mine in the Hulunbuir region, Inner Mongolia, a state-owned company called China Huaneng produces 35 million tons of coal annually. It says it saves nearly $4 million a year by having the trucks drive themselves.
这些运煤卡车由中国徐工集团制造，华为提供自动驾驶软件、通信设备和算力支持。
The coal-hauling trucks are made by China’s XCMG, with Huawei supplying autonomous-driving software, telecommunications equipment and computing power.
驾驶室里没有人类司机，取而代之的是一块568千瓦时的电池组。这些卡车行驶在目之所及的矿区——面积相当于3500个足球场——由计算机算法告诉它们下一步去哪里装煤。控制中心里的一小队人类工程师负责监视。
In the place of a cab for a human driver, the trucks carry a battery pack with 568 kilowatt-hours of juice. They roam a mine production area that stretches as far as the eye can see—an area of 3,500 soccer fields—with a computer algorithm telling them where to go next to pick up coal. A small team of human engineers at the control center keeps watch.
每当看到附近有人，这些卡车就会像纽约出租车司机一样鸣笛。它们能自行找到最近的换电站。
The trucks honk like a New York cabbie whenever they see a human nearby. They know how to find the nearest battery swapping station on their own.
对任何喜欢卡车的孩子来说，迪士尼乐园相比之下都会显得乏味。华能负责智能矿山建设与运营的经理刘强说，他6岁的儿子去过矿区。“他梦想当一名卡车司机。但我告诉他，我的工作就是取代卡车司机，”刘强说。
Disneyland would be dull by comparison for any child who loves trucks. Huaneng manager Liu Qiang, who oversees intelligent-mine construction and operations, said his 6-year-old son has visited the site. “He dreams of being a truck driver. But I told him my job is to replace truck drivers,” Liu said.
换电站由太阳能电池板供电，不过华能的运营远算不上绿色能源的典范。其中包括一座燃煤电厂，配有三根巨大的烟囱，为整个偏远地区供电。
Solar panels power the battery-swapping station, although the Huaneng operations are hardly a paragon of green energy. They include a coal-fired power plant with three giant smokestacks, keeping the lights on throughout the remote region.
中国新售乘用车中近三分之二是纯电动或插电式混合动力车。矿用卡车也不甘落后。
Nearly two-thirds of new passenger vehicles sold in China are battery-electric or plug-in hybrids. Mining trucks aren’t far behind.
为无人驾驶矿用卡车提供软件的香港上市公司易控智驾表示，其在中国市场的纯电动卡车车队今年已增加一倍多，达到1800辆，占车队总量的45%。
Eacon, a Hong Kong-listed company that provides software for autonomous mining trucks, says its battery-electric truck fleet in China has more than doubled this year to 1,800 vehicles, or 45% of the total fleet.
中国以外的转型较慢，但正在加快步伐。澳大利亚三大矿业公司都在测试纯电动运输卡车。挑战之一在于：澳大利亚倾向于使用更大的卡车，载重量在300吨及以上。
The transition is slower outside China, but it is picking up pace. All three of Australia’s top miners are testing battery-electric haulers. One challenge: Australia tends to use bigger trucks, with payloads of 300 tons or more.
总部位于珀斯的福特斯克集团正计划组建一支由数百辆电池动力卡车组成的车队，其中许多将由中国的徐工集团制造，这些卡车将携带至少3.4兆瓦时的电量——是内蒙古矿山卡车电池容量的六倍——并能在30分钟内充满电。福特斯克首辆载重240吨的电动卡车由欧洲的利勃海尔制造，预计将于12月投入使用。
Perth-based Fortescue is planning a fleet of hundreds of battery-powered trucks, many to be built by China’s XCMG, that will carry at least 3.4 megawatt-hours of juice—six times the capacity of the batteries in the Inner Mongolia mine trucks—and charge in 30 minutes. The first of Fortescue’s 240-ton-hauling electric trucks, made by Europe-based Liebherr, is set to enter service in December.
业内人士警告称，这一转型过程将需要时间。快速充电技术在大规模应用方面仍未经检验。充电速度较慢的充电桩会让卡车闲置数小时，并迫使公司为完成相同工作量而购买更多车辆。这就是为什么澳大利亚的必和必拓计划测试卡特彼勒的一套可在卡车作业过程中充电的系统。
People in the industry caution that the transition will take time. Rapid-charging technology is still untested at large scale. Slower chargers keep trucks idled for hours and require companies to buy more vehicles for the same job. That is why Australia’s BHP plans to test a Caterpillar system that charges trucks while they are operating.
昆士兰大学矿业工程学院院长罗斯·麦克雷表示，替换澳大利亚矿区使用的所有柴油——其中大部分用于为运矿卡车提供燃料——每年将需要约40太瓦时的电力，这几乎相当于全国目前总用电量的15%。
Ross McAree, who heads the University of Queensland’s mining engineering school, said replacing all the diesel used at Australian mining sites—much of it to fuel haulers—would require roughly 40 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, nearly 15% of what the entire nation currently consumes.
麦克雷说：“这仅仅是一个巨大的后勤挑战。我们谈论的矿区距离任何像样的城市都有数千公里，且未接入国家电网。”福特斯克的计划包括到2028年安装240万块太阳能电池板。绿色产品交付负责人沃伦·哈里斯表示，公司已核算过让整个矿区车队电气化的账。
“It’s just a huge logistic challenge,” McAree said. “We’re talking mine sites that are thousands of kilometers from any reasonable city and not connected onto a national grid.”Fortescue’s plans include 2.4 million solar panels by 2028. Warren Harris, head of green product delivery, said the company ran the numbers on electrifying the whole mine fleet.
结果显示：“现在电池电动卡车的总拥有成本对企业来说比柴油卡车更划算，”哈里斯说。“过去几年电池技术进步飞快。”
The result: “The total cost of ownership now of a battery electric truck is better for the business than a diesel,” Harris said. “The battery technology has moved so fast in the last couple of years.”