Transforming Mining Trucks Through Cutting-Edge Retrofits

As miners expand and upgrade their fleets with the latest surface haulage technology, they can be confident these investments will serve their operations well for decades to come, in part due to emerging retrofit options.  

Cummins has made several announcements in recent months regarding two distinct progressive decarbonization pathways—electrification and clean fuels—with hybrid and dual fuel retrofit kits powering meaningful progress.  

Hybrid: Electrification Now

Hybrid haul trucks leverage a combination of internal combustion engines and battery architecture, delivering design flexibility suited for various haul truck applications. This combination not only retains the reliability and operational familiarity that end users depend on but also brings performance, emissions and cost improvements. 

By leveraging battery power during low-demand periods and regenerative braking to capture, store and redeploy energy, operators can expect hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to reduce fuel consumption — and associated carbon emissions — by 15-30%, dependent on mine profile. This also reduces strain on the engine and related components, reducing maintenance events and extending the engine’s operating life.  

Partnerships demonstrating progress

While Cummins announced its first-fit hybrid pilot program with NHL in 2024, the company’s acquisition of First Mode assets in February 2025 brought additional hybrid capabilities specifically in the retrofit space. 

At The Electric Mine conference, Cummins announced the upcoming deployment of the world’s first HEV retrofits of Komatsu 930E-4 mining trucks. Pilots will deploy with two Chilean mining customers yet this year, marking the first of many pilots planned throughout North and Latin America in 2025-2026.

Cummins continues to work with their leading OEM partners to develop the right solutions for the industry as needed.

Clean Fuels: Low Carbon, Simple Implementation 

There are many types of clean fuels that have the potential to offer low or zero-carbon power. While fuels like hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and biodiesel are already commonly available and in use with no engine modifications needed, Cummins is now leading the way to make select alcohol fuels implementable in mining. 

Cummins’ ethanol and methanol solutions in action 

Ethanol and methanol are two especially promising low-carbon fuels for mining due to regional availability, vehicle space requirements and ease of implementation. 

In July 2024, Cummins, Vale and Komatsu signed an agreement to develop and test dual-fuel haul trucks, powered by a mixture of ethanol and diesel, injected through two separate fuel tanks. These will be the world’s first dual-fuel powered trucks of their size, with payloads of 250-320T. This will also be a retrofittable solution. 

Cummins has reached a key milestone in this project with the opening of its advanced low-carbon fuel test cells at Seymour Engine Plant in Indiana. Designed to test a range of alternative fuels in engines ranging from 38L to 95L, the test cells will initially be used for testing an ethanol/diesel dual fuel QSK60 in support of the collaborative haul truck development project.

The QSK60 is also central to Cummins’ methanol/diesel dual fuel development project, for which initial work was completed as part of a 2023 UK-funded marine vessel initiative. The foundational architecture will enable dual fuel use across multiple industrial applications, including marine, mining and rail.

Powering the Path Forward 

Retrofitting the large installed base of mining trucks with hybrid and clean fuel technologies represent a critical and cost-effective step towards decarbonizing the mining sector, delivering immediate emissions reductions and supporting long-term operational sustainability with minimal impact on mine design.