Partnership in Australia will see Qube test an 170t electric prime mover for hauling a triple road train of copper concentrate containers 230km from mine to port.
The partnership consists of Australian electric vehicle start up Janus Electric, the mining company OZ Minerals and Qube. Using its own technology Janus has converted a Volvo 8×6 diesel road truck into an EV, installing a 720HP electric drive train and a swappable 620kW battery system. Battery packs can be swapped out in four minutes using the company’s patent pending “Change & Charge station.”
The truck will haul a road train consisting of three 20ft containers of copper concentrate from the Carrapateena mine to Whyalla Port in South Australia, a distance of 230km. The battery change station will be located at Port Augusta, which is a waypoint 161km from Carrapateena. At the Whyalla Port SIMEC Mining loads the copper concentrate by using a container rotator to tip the cargo into the hold.
All the electric vehicle technology on the truck was developed in Australia. Speaking at a launch event Lex Forsyth, Janus Electric CEO said the 170t rated prime over is “the heaviest electric truck in the world. Not by twice not by three times but four times the size of the existing technology that’s out there today”.
Janus is focused on converting existing equipment fleets to its electric vehicle system. It claims to be able to refit a diesel Class 8 prime mover that is due for a rebuild or replacement “with a new electric motor at a comparative cost to rebuild an existing diesel motor.” In practice it aims to work with trucks that are less than 10 years old “due to the electrical infrastructure of the vehicle.”
Janus is offering a “zero-carbon” solution with a battery that can be charged utilising renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro during the day when demand on the grid is low. The battery pack has a range of 400 to 600km and an estimated life of up to eight years. As an external, swappable battery, the battery pack has been designed to be fully upgradeable as new technology emerges.
The electric truck will operate alongside Qube’s existing diesel trucks in a 12-month trial. Qube Bulk Director Todd Emmert said the pilot project is “just the first step in our journey to decarbonise our logistics supply chain”.
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