Codelco tests electric truck on copper route to Port of San Antonio

The National Copper Corporation (Codelco), particularly its Ventanas Division, has launched a pilot program to evaluate the operation of a 100% electric truck to transport copper cathodes to the Port of San Antonio. The initiative, promoted by Codelco's Logistics and Transversal Services Directorate, is part of the sectoral strategy to incorporate heavy-duty electromobility on interprovincial routes in the central zone, measuring its response under real industrial demand conditions. The unit under test, provided by Sany Latin America, has a nominal range of 500 kilometers. The operational development of this pilot also has the technical support of the company Transporte Pascual Pizarro Toro, responsible for the driving and ground supervision of the cargo. "This technical capacity allows covering without problems the established logistical route between the Division's facilities and the Port of San Antonio, a circuit that covers an approximate distance of 260 kilometers for the round trip," explained Ricardo Weishaupt, General Manager of Codelco's Ventanas Division. In line with what was reported by the Chilean state company, the experimental phase aims to consolidate operational certainties before making larger investments, seeking to analyze both the technical results of battery performance against the route's geography and the economic variables of eventual implementation. According to projections from Codelco Ventanas' Services and Logistics Directorate, the environmental impact of a technological transition on this route is substantial. If the 25 trucks in the current fleet were replaced by electric units, 725,000 liters of diesel consumption would be eliminated annually. The contemplated mitigation would be equivalent to removing 420 cars from circulation or the annual carbon capture work of more than 88,000 growing trees. In this way, the initiative aligns with the decarbonization, sustainability, and logistical efficiency goals set by Codelco nationwide. In this regard, the General Manager of Codelco Ventanas indicated that "it is important to permanently evaluate alternatives like this, which allow us to combine environmental sustainability with greater efficiency and competitiveness, to thus achieve corporate commitments in terms of production and environment, such as Codelco's 2030 decarbonization goals." It should be remembered that, last April, Codelco and Sany advanced their electromobility strategy with the transport of 27 tons of copper in a 100% electric truck. The operation consisted of a 680-kilometer journey (round trip) between the Radomiro Tomic Division and Puerto Angamos.