该卡车在柴油电动混合动力系统上运行，并且已经设计出具有高于平均水平的结构框架的高有效载荷。这听起来像是最新的“绿色”皮卡的广告，但是这辆卡车每小时消耗数百加仑的燃料，其有效载荷以数百吨为单位。

在一个全部生产力和每吨成本成本的行业中，Liebherr的原型TI-274矿业卡车的设计师总是在寻找更高的效率。目前，这辆卡车正在弗吉尼亚州埃普里亚（Emporia）附近的利布尔（Liebherr）的测试场上进行，并取决于其性能，可能是扩大超大型矿业卡车的TI系列的基础。

Diesel-electric hybrid power systems are nothing new in Liebherr’s mining trucks. A diesel engine drives an alternator, and an electronic control system distributes power as needed. On the TI-274, each wheel has its own electric motor with a planetary drive, allowing for independent control of the wheels. Liebherr’s diesel-electric system differentiates the German firm’s trucks from the mechanically driven machines of Caterpillar, which controls most of the U.S. market.

大多数矿业卡车将有效载荷重量放在框架上，但是TI-274的垃圾箱车身直接连接到车轮上的四个点。Liebherr采矿设备制造副总裁Cort Reiser说：“框架不如传统设计中的框架那么重。”“我们正在从垃圾箱中汲取这种重量，并将这些力直接传输到车轮。”

“The limitation of building a bigger truck is the tires: The tire load becomes the gross vehicle weight,” says Bernd Vorhoelter, executive vice president, Liebherr Mining Equipment. “With the TI concept, we have a chance to push against this limit a little bit further.”

“We may not even introduce this truck as a 290-tonne class,” says Francis G. Wickert, general manager for product management and marketing, Liebherr Mining Equipment. “We could take the TI concept and maybe go to a 500-tonne truck. If you lower the EVW [empty vehicle weight], you increase the payload. The TI is the best chance to get our EVW as low as possible.”