India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat), in collaboration with SwitchLabs Automobiles and Energy In Motion, has announced the deployment of 24 heavy-duty electric trucks for transportation of bulk raw materials from Karaikal Port to its cement plants in Dalmiapuram and Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. The electric fleet will transport petcoke, slag and gypsum, replacing conventional diesel-powered freight operations. Each truck is expected to travel approximately 12,000km per month, taking the combined annual fleet utilisation to nearly 2.9 million km.
Dalmia Cement and SwitchLabs have also developed a trailer-swap operating model enabled by separate tractor and trailer registration, designed to improve utilisation and reduce idle time for electric trucks. Under this model, an electric tractor can interchange trailers rather than remaining idle during loading and unloading activities. Based on the project's expected operating profile and an assumed electricity mix of approximately 70% renewable energy and 30% electricity from the national grid, the electric fleet is estimated to avoid approximately 3735t/yr of CO₂ emissions, on a life-cycle emissions basis.
