EPCA plans to convert 50-70 mining trucks to electric power annually

EPCA to produce 50-70 battery-electric mining trucks a year, Xerotech says

Located in Perth, Western Australia, EPCA became famous for its “Green Machine,” a CAT 777 100-ton haul truck it converted to electric power. Now, the company says it has plans to produce 50-70 more of the battery electric mining trucks … each year.

After showcasing its Green Machine at two major mining events in Australia recently, EPCA (an acronym that stands for Electric Power Conversion Australia) a recent case study commissioned by one of the company’s key suppliers says it has plans to produce 50-70 of its 100-ton battery electric mining trucks annually.

There might be demand, too. Switching the CAT from diesel to battery electric power boosts the haul truck’s horsepower from 1,000 hp to 1,120 hp, and bumps torque from 4,700 Nm (3,400 lb ft) to 5,200 Nm (3,835 lb ft), and that torque increase comes at 0 rpm.

The electrons powering those motors are provided courtesy of six 290 kWh Xerotech batteries running in parallel. The combined battery pack is good for some 1740 kWh of energy storage, which makes it one of the biggest vehicle batteries we’ve ever heard of.

For their part, the EPCA team seem pretty proud of their new truck. Clayton Franklin, Chief Engineer and Founder of EPCA, said, “We’ve now got the world’s highest energy density, full battery-electric mining truck … our mining clients here in Australia are ecstatic that this truck is being built and manufactured right here in Western Australia.”

With 5,500 mining trucks currently operating in Australia (and more than 55,000 operating globally), finding buyers for 50-70 trucks per year seems pretty doable. The only question now is whether EPCA – or, more accurately, Xerotech – can get them built.

Electrek’s Take

EPCA Green Machine, with dump body by Austin Engineering; via Austin Engineering.

As we discussed in our special mining episode of Quick Charge, mines are great applications for battery-electric vehicles, and massive electric vehicles like this one from EPCA and similar models from Caterpillar and Liebherr are filling out the market nicely. That said, I think I made these points well enough there to repost the video, below, and argue out the details in the comments. Enjoy!