PRODUCT FOCUS
Elfsberg, Volvo CE’s director of emerging
technologies. “We have been working with
general purpose and production equipment in
quarries for a long time, so we know them,”
she says. “We can analyse and find efficiency
improvement and we can easily compare
before and after performance.”
The technology could eventually be applied
to large construction projects. Electric-
powered construction equipment will also
have the benefit of significantly reduced noise
emissions — of particular concern in the urban
environment.
The electric machines offer new design
potential to Volvo CE, which gives the
performance of the entire worksite, according
to Volvo CE director of design, Sidney Levy.
“They create a great design opportunity by
company an opportunity to improve the overall
allowing us to remove conventional systems
In October 2017, eMining AG announced that it had won the European eMove360° award
with its eDumper – the world’s largest electric tyred vehicle.
and components. This gives us the ability to
explore different machine designs for better
visibility and serviceability,” he says.
development and testing of this prototype, applied sciences, the Swiss Federal Institute of
on condition that the know-how acquired in Technology (ETH), and the EMPA were used to
eDumper the course of this project benefit the Swiss design the individual components.
Since late 2017, a 65-tonne capacity Komatsu research and industrial community.
HD 605-7 dumper truck has been transporting
The conversion of the Komatsu HD 605-7
In October 2017, eMining AG announced that
it had won the European eMove360° award —
raw material from the La Tscharner quarry was carried out by eMining, a company that ahead of co-finalists AtTrack, TUMcreate, and
down to the conveyor system at the Ciments converts conventionally powered machines Volkswagen — with its eDumper: the world’s
Vigier SA cement factory above Biel-Bienne. to electric drive for the mining industry and largest electric tyred vehicle, with an unladen
What makes this stand out is that the markets them world-wide, helping customers weight of 45 tonnes and a payload capacity
prototype, backed by the Swiss Federal Office achieve their goal of ‘carbon-free mining’. of 65 tonnes. The truck will be used in the La
of Energy and converted in Switzerland, will
Measurements taken in the La Tscharner
not use any diesel fuel or emit any CO 2 during
workings, simulations at the universities of
Tscharner extraction area from 2018 as a Plus
Energy vehicle for cement production.
its 20 or so daily trips. Instead, on the laden
downhill run, the truck will generate electricity,
which is stored in the battery. Some of this
energy will be used to power the unladen
truck back up to the extraction area, while the
surplus will be fed into the grid overnight.
ARGE eDumper, a partnership between
Kuhn (Switzerland) AG and Lithium Storage
GmbH, was commissioned by Ciments
Vigier SA to build the first 100% electric
replacement of a diesel-engined vehicle.
Vigier was prepared to pay a substantial
premium for such a vehicle, since the cost
savings from the truck not using any diesel
fuel over its planned 10-year life cycle and
compensation will be substantial.
The Swiss Federal Office of Energy
also made a financial contribution to the
non-amortisable additional costs for the
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from removing the need to pay any CO 2
The prototype eDumper will be used in a quarry operated by Ciments Vigier SA on the
slopes of the Chasseral in Switzerland.