The fully electric eDumper you see here was developed by eMining AG, and it’s one of the largest electric vehicles on Earth. It weighs 123 tons. It has a 65 ton payload capacity, too — so, roughly 130 “half ton” pickup trucks for the 150/1500 naming variety. It’s really big, in other words, and uses some clever technology to ensure that it uses almost no grid-sourced energy. Now, after several years of testing, the eDumper project has been acquired by Lithium Systems, and they’re ready to push the project forward in a big way.
Image courtesy Lithium Systems.
So, Lithium Systems bought the project from the developers. Got it — news reported. But what a project!
Originally commissioned to work at a Ciments Vigier SA limestone quarry in Switzerland, the eDumper began life as a Komatsu HD605-7 diesel heavy duty dump. eMining AG converted the HD605-7 to “eDumper” spec using li-ion batteries and a kinetic energy recovering system sourced from (you guessed it) Lithium Systems. The idea being that you could drive the eDumper up the steep incline of the quarry taking full advantage of the electric motors’ low-end torque, then load it up with 65 tons of raw materials, and essentially ride the brakes down, converting all that mass + gravity into electricity to recharge the 700 kW NMC lithium battery power pack.
Sounds neat, right? The really neat part of this is that it all works! Indeed, the eDumper has been in daily use for over two years now, and has saved more than 50,000 liters of diesel annually thanks to its electric power. Even better, the eDumper actually generates more energy than it uses, and the excess electrical energy that’s generated goes back into the grid to power the rest of the jobsite with gravity-source, CO2-free electricity!
If you can’t tell from reading this, I am positively hyped about the eDumper — and, let’s be honest, it’s fun to say “eDumper” — but that’s just me. What do you guys think, is the eDumper gravity-as-generator concept something you think would have a use in other areas, or is this the V2G concept pretty much at peak? Scroll on down to the comments and let us know.
eDumper in Action
Source | Images: Lithium Systems, via International Mining.
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