Scania is calling its first-ever, fully-electric 8×4 heavy-duty mining tipper Sleipner after the Norse god Odin’s famously powerful eight-legged ride – and it’s being put to work at Sweden’s Malmberget iron ore mine.
The first battery-electric twin steer haul truck from Swedish brand Scania, the Sleipner was co-developed with Swedish mining firm LKAB. The design takes advantage of Scania’s clever, modular HD vehicle architecture to offer greater load capacity and improved maneuverability in the tight confines of an ore mine. The result is a truck that’s perfectly suited for the demanding terrain and steep gradients of the Malmberget mine.
“Partnerships like this are essential for learning and accelerating progress,” says Tony Sandberg, Head of Scania Pilot Partner. “Each new truck we put into operation helps us and our customers understand how to scale electrification across the toughest environments. This vehicle is just the start of many more mining solutions to come.”
LKAB moves more than five million (million) tons of rock every year across its operations, and converting those high-volume loads to electric could represent a massive reduction in harmful carbon emissions, contributing to the company’s broader environmental goals.
Scania’s Sleipner features a pair of massive MP20 battery packs with 416 kWh of total capacity. That battery pack sends power to a 400 kW EM C1-4 electric motor. While Scania hasn’t published official torque figures for its electric drivetrain, the 38-tonne (~40 ton) BEV haul truck fully replaces a diesel equivalent, likely putting it in the range of ~3,000 Nm (2,000 lb-ft) of torque typical for Scania’s HD diesel engines.
Electrek’s Take
As I’ve said before, EVs and mining to together like pepperoni and pizza. In confined spaces, the carbon emissions and ear-splitting noise made by conventional, ICE-powered mining equipment can create dangerous circumstances that can lead to serious injuries (or worse), and that’s just going to make it even harder for a mining operation to keep people working and minerals coming out of the ground.
By working with companies like Scania to prove that forward-looking electric equipment can do the job as well as well as (if not better than) their internal combustion counterparts, LKAB will go a long way towards converting what’s left of the ICE faithful.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Scania; via Construction Digital, HeavyQuip.
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