https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/105291370/palmerston-north-company-develops-australasias-first-miningindustry-ute Palmerston North company develops Australasia's first mining-industry ute July 9 2018 PAUL MITCHELL
[image / DAVID UNWIN/STUFF https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/q/p/2/e/6/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qorca.png/1531098399428.jpg Zero Emission Vehicles project manager Simon Monteith is splitting his time between Palmerston North and Adelaide. ] Zero Emission Vehicles project manager Simon Monteith is splitting his time between Palmerston North and Adelaide. A Palmerston North-based electric vehicle manufacturer has found the first customer for its specialist electric mining ute. Zero Emission Vehicles built the country's first electric rubbish truck for the K?piti District Council in 2013 and now it's finding international success with the first electric ute for the Australasian mining industry. The firm's chief executive Andrew Rushworth said it launched its electric ute, the Voltra, late last year, and Australian mining company BHP Billiton will soon start trialling it at the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. Rushworth said BHP went through an extensive three-year search to find a manufacturer to meet its needs before settling on Zero Emission Vehicles. The firm was proud to have beaten some of the biggest players in electric vehicle manufacturing to secure the contract. It prototyped and built the Voltra in Palmerston North and shipped it to Australia as a kit to be assembled onsite for trialling. A mine was the toughest environment utes were routinely used in and the Voltra was engineered for endurance and to meet the exacting health and safety requirements of the Australian mining industry, Rushworth said. It was based on the Toyota Landcruiser 70 series, which was the industry standard for its durability. "Although there's very little of the Landcruiser left. It's basically just the chassis," Rishworth said. BHP revealed the trial on its website last week. "(The utes) are at the heart of our work on low emissions technology," the BHP website says. "Importantly, as they are battery-powered, our team's exposure to the diesel particulate matter generated by traditional diesel engines is significantly reduced." A decision on wider deployment of the Voltra utes at Olympic Dam was expected to be made soon. Zero Emission Vehicles project manager Simon Monteith, a Massey University engineering graduate, has been travelling between Adelaide and Palmerston North over the past few months to help with the onsite assembly and trials. The Voltra ute was his baby, which made him the ideal candidate for that work, he said. "I'm not the (top) expert on every one of the systems, but I'm the one that ties it all together. "If the full order goes through, we'll look to establish a permanent presence in Adelaide, maybe at the mine itself, so we can have someone on call at all times." That'll be Monteith to start with and he will move to Adelaide and get everything established before bringing in a replacement so he can move to the firm's next project, he said. [© 2018 Stuff] https://www.leftlanenews.com/electric-land-cruiser-joins-australian-mining-fleet-100856.html Electric Land Cruiser joins Australian mining fleet An Australian company has converted a Toyota Land Cruiser to pure electric power. The rugged EV will be put to work at one ... https://lln5.mnmcdn.com/photos/galleries/january2016/thumbs/Toyota%20Land%20Cruiser%2079%20Voltra%2001_700.jpg + https://www.bhp.com/community/community-news/2018/06/light-electric-vehicles-make-their-bhp-debut BHP | Light electric vehicles make their BHP debut Jun 27, 2018 ... mines in the world and our investment there in light electric vehicles, powered by lithium ion batteries, is good news for our people and the planet ... https://youtu.be/W_iAG1mVVtM For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
