At Liebherr’s mining equipment proving grounds in Virginia, near its Newport News manufacturing site, a major milestone was recently reached when a Liebherr T 264 240 t class mining truck was successfully integrated with the Fortescue Zero production series battery electric power system.
Warren Harris, Director Group Project Delivery at Fortescue stated: “Getting a 240-tonne battery electric truck ready for the Pilbara is one of the toughest challenges we’ve taken on. But this integration proves the technology is here, and it’s getting closer to operations.”
The next stage will be doing the same integration through conversion of one of the 100+ Liebherr T 264 diesel electric trucks already deployed with Fortescue in Australia, which is expected in the next few months. Fortescue has stated that it expects to have a battery electric mining truck running by the end of the year.
The image shared of the truck in Virginia show a trolley unit with pantographs fitted, allowing it to partly charge using Liebherr’s testing area trolley line. At Fortescue’s operation, it is assumed the truck will use the 6 MW charger developed by Fortescue Zero, which it has said is capable of charging this class of truck in 30 minutes and remains the largest DC charger in the market for output power and voltage.
The electric fleet ecosystem also includes Fortescue Zero’s Elysia Battery Intelligence systems and software, both embedded and cloud based, designed to empower electric fleets ranging from battery management to safety, reliability and performance.
These chargers are also equipped with robotic connection options, including from KUKA, to automate plug-in procedures, safely mating with autonomous battery-electric trucks. The Liebherr truck image from the US showed the unit fitted with Liebherr’s IoMine autonomous haulage system – which it says combines advanced automation with real-time data insights to enhance productivity, safety and efficiency.
The system enables fully autonomous operation of Liebherr’s haul trucks, allowing for intelligent route optimisation and seamless, reliable performance without manual intervention. Designed for future sustainability, the AHS is compatible with both diesel-electric and zero emission energy systems, integrating with the FMS to manage energy replenishment for zero emission trucks.
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