Montra Electric announced an agreement to supply approximately 250 Rhino 5538 EV heavy-duty trucks to Wonder Cement. The vehicles will operate along a 1,450-kilometer industrial freight corridor connecting Nimbahera in Rajasthan to port locations at Dahej and Tuna in Gujarat, passing through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Fleet Specs and Charging Infrastructure
The deployment features Montra Electric’s Rhino 5538 EV 4x2 tractor-trailer, a 55-tonne gross combination weight vehicle designed for heavy industrial cargo like cement and steel. To support operations, the route will feature 13 dedicated charging stations equipped with 39 chargers, servicing both standard fast-charging models and battery-swapping variants that allow full battery replacement in under six minutes. The company estimates that full deployment of the 250-truck fleet on the cement corridor will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 39,500 tonnes.
Why This Deployment Matters for Long-Haul EV Adoption
Montra Electric Managing Director Jalaj Gupta stated that the deployment puts heavy electric vehicles into continuous duty cycles on key industrial routes to demonstrate operational viability. Navneet Sethi, Chief Executive Officer of Montra Electric's eM&HCV division, noted that engineering the vehicles for high utilization and heavy payloads aims to establish a repeatable model for long-haul fleet electrification.