Why the world’s largest e-car never needs to charge
19.7.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
They call it the E-Dumper, the largest (or at least heaviest) electric vehicle in the world. And it isn’t just a nifty Swiss invention – the colossus also generates electricity.
I’m probably not the only one who’s loved industrial vehicles since childhood. They’re big, powerful and just really impressive in every respect most of the time. Take those dump trucks used on large construction sites and in quarries. Several tonnes even unladen, wheels as big as two people – true giants.
Source: Wikipedia/Michael KR
No wonder that Lego Technik and other manufacturers also make these monstrous machines as toys from time to time.
As impressive as these huge vehicles may be, they’re anything but environmentally friendly – at least most of the time. For a few years now, a converted conventional Komatsu HD605-7, operating purely electrically, has been in operation in Switzerland. But this vehicle isn’t just CO₂-neutral, it even generates more electricity than it consumes. But how did it come about in the first place?
A crazy idea becomes reality
The E-Dumper is the result of a collaboration between Kuhn Schweiz AG, Lithium System GmbH and the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences. In Lithium System’s blog post, the project is affectionately described as having emerged at a group pub night. The central question: what if a noisy, smoky monster were to become an electrically powered high-performance machine? Without further ado, a working group formed for the E-Dumper and calculations began.
Terrain data was collected, potential consumption was simulated and plans were drawn up. The team had to overcome various unforeseen hurdles. Their chassis conversion, for example, had to accommodate four electric batteries with a total capacity of 710 kilowatt hours. This corresponds to a capacity of more than nine Volkswagen ID.7s, weighing eight tonnes.
The skip also had to be custom-made. They’re usually heated by the exhaust gases from the engine to prevent transported goods from sticking. With the Lynx – as the team calls their massive electric vehicle – this isn’t an option, of course.
Source: Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
It took roughly three years to develop and implement the project. The vehicle has been in use at the Vigier Ciment cement factory in the Bernese Jura for transporting rock since early 2018. The figures are nearly unbelievable: a synchronous electric motor with a continuous output of 634 kW or 862 hp, up to 12,000 Nm of torque, 58 tonnes unladen, an impressive 123 tonnes when fully loaded. And it gets even better.
Infinite power thanks to recuperation
According to Kuhn, a conventional dump truck of this size consumes 50,000 to 100,000 litres of diesel per year and emits 131 to 262 tonnes of CO₂. Not only does the E-Dumper do away with this, it even produces electricity during use.
Source: Lithium System GmbH
As it turns out, removing material and loading the tipper happens higher above sea level than unloading. Anyone familiar with electric vehicles or motors will already have an idea of what I’m getting at. On descent, this green colossus is more than twice as heavy as on the ascent. And with an electric motor, braking is the exact opposite of accelerating. Instead of consuming energy to turn the wheels, energy can be recovered through resistance when braking – very similar to a wind turbine or the dynamo on your bike. This process is called recuperation.
Source: Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
This means the E-Dumper actually generates more energy on a descent than it needs to ascend. And not just by a bit. It recuperates a whole 77 megawatt hours of electricity per year (link in German). According to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, a household of four people consumes an average of 4,048 kilowatt hours per year (link in German). So, the energy gained from the Lynx could supply almost 20 households with electricity for a year.
A colossus makes history
The bottom line is, this gigantic e-car boasts several records. The E-Dumper is the largest and most powerful battery-powered electric wheeled vehicle in the world. It has the largest battery ever produced for an electric vehicle, and never before has a single EV been able to save so much CO₂.
All of this has contributed to this Swiss machine earning a place in the 2022 Guinness Book of Records (link in German).
Source: Screenshot/Lythium System GmbH
So far, this green dump truck is a one-off. Yes, the vehicle has already made waves – for example at the construction machinery and mining trade fair in Munich, where Liebherr also presented an electric dump truck (link in German). Hitachi also has a similar project in the pipeline. Suncar, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, is also active in the electric construction machinery business (article in German).
But the only fully operational E-Dumper in the world – and therefore the largest electric vehicle ever – remains a Swiss pioneering achievement.
Header image: Kuhn Schweiz AG
Dayan Pfammatter
Freelance Editor
pf.dayan@gmail.comI've been fascinated by all things keys, displays and speakers for basically as long as I can remember. As a journalist specialising in technology and society, I strive to create order in the jungle of tech jargon and confusing spec sheets.
E-mobility
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