Reflecting on some takeaways from the first half of #AABCEurope and in particular, the EV Technology for Heavy Duty Applications track.
Heavy Duty haulage is a huge growth opportunity, adoption is still at relatively early stages, both in the UK and Europe. Mine electrification is proceeding well - across global mine applications - from underground to surface haulage, with some industry-leading initiatives.
Infrastructure and charging location and implementation is being optimized and studied to ensure maximum efficiency and availability, with initiatives such as depot sharing and bus stop charging. High power charging optimization via both hardware and software technologies continues to move forward, and autonomous solutions are key for mining applications. Regulatory environments and end user sustainability goals are driving road haulage electrification efforts, but cost and safety are the drivers for mining applications. Chemistry is a consideration - mostly LFP, but this industry is definitely open to new technologies with the forward view of increasing the energy density of cells as well as other performance considerations. Safety continues to be front and center of development efforts, for both cooling of packs and operational environment.
Finally - a few personal highlights -
- Pack swapping is already happening with Sandvik's underground BEVs and these vehicles are able to carry increased loads when compared to diesel vehicles.
- Collaboration is very active in this industry - startups are well embedded with larger industry players.
- Performance and safety considerations are actively driving solutions in ever-increasing charging and operational demands.
- In some cases, it's actually cheaper to procure and operate BEVs vs ICE vehicles.
It's an exciting segment in the industry - harsh environments, high power demands, huge pack sizes, continuous operation with any downtime a major issue, and these conditions are driving technology development. It's going to be fascinating to see how this industry evolves in the next few years.
A HUGE thank you to our excellent presenters in this track, providing technical expertise, industry insights and great discussions into this sector over the past couple of days.
#AABCEurope #EV #MineElectrification #HeavyDuty #Mining #Haulage #EnergyTransition #Decarbonization
Tom Maull, Alex Groombridge, BRIAN BARNETT, Ezequiel Glasserman, Denis Gorman, Ali Nowroozi, Xiao Cai, Anna Fedorova, Marc-André Beck, Nicolas Jäckel, Dr. Linus Froböse, Sean Chiang, John Forgie, Tuulia Åhlman, Laurent Bravetti, Isabella Panovic, Dr.-Ing Hussein Basma
