SDLG Sells First Electric Loaders in Brazil to Grupo Base — SkimNews
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- SDLG Brasil completed its first sale in the country, delivering six electric wheel loaders to Grupo Base — four 27-ton L972 HEV and two 12.5-ton L938 HEV machines ordered in June, with the first units now on-site and "moving dirt, but not making noise."
- The L972 HEV carries a 423 kWh LFP battery feeding a 230 kW (~305 hp) electric motor, while the smaller L938 HEV runs on a 180 kWh LFP pack driving a 180 kW (~240 hp) motor — both spec'd for a full day of continuous operation with DC fast-charging between shifts.
- Tracbel, SDLG's Brazilian distributor, now holds commercial responsibility for the brand across 60% of Brazil, with executive director Carlos Renato Machado calling the deal a "historic milestone" and saying the company hopes to expand electric mining and construction equipment use throughout the region.
- Grupo Base operates a fleet of 450 heavy equipment assets across more than 30 concrete and mortar batching plants and 20 crushed stone and fracking sand sites, employing over 2,000 people — making electrification of that fleet a substantial decarbonization lever in an ecologically sensitive region.
- Grupo Base president and CEO Edson Pechio said the company is "driving a major transformation across our operations" with the explicit goal of progressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Why it matters: SDLG's first Brazilian sale — routed through Tracbel's newly expanded 60% national footprint — opens a beachhead for Chinese-built electric heavy equipment in Latin America, and Grupo Base's 450-asset, 2,000-employee operation across batching and mining sites gives Tracbel a large-scale reference customer to pitch the same electric fleet swap to peer operators in the region.
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