Montra Electric has entered into an agreement to supply approximately 250 Rhino 5538 electric heavy-duty trucks to Wonder Cement. These vehicles will be deployed along a 1,450-kilometre industrial freight corridor linking Nimbahera in Rajasthan with the ports of Dahej and Tuna in Gujarat, traversing Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Fleet Specifications and Charging Infrastructure
The deployment centres on Montra Electric’s Rhino 5538 EV 4×2 tractor-trailer, a 55-tonne gross combination weight vehicle engineered for transporting heavy industrial cargo such as cement and steel. Supporting this operation, the corridor will be equipped with 13 dedicated charging stations housing a total of 39 chargers. These will cater to both fast-charging models and battery-swapping variants, with the latter enabling a full battery replacement in under six minutes. According to company estimates, the complete rollout of the 250-truck fleet is expected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 39,500 tonnes.
Significance for Long-Haul EV Adoption
Jalaj Gupta, Managing Director of Montra Electric, noted that this deployment places heavy electric vehicles into continuous-duty operations on key industrial routes, showcasing their real-world viability. Navneet Sethi, Chief Executive Officer of Montra Electric’s eM&HCV division, added that the vehicles have been engineered for high utilisation and heavy payload capacities, with the broader objective of creating a scalable and repeatable model for long-haul fleet electrification.
