HIGH PROFILE when people see the quotation for a BEV , which is common among the OEMs . Yet , people are now looking beyond the initial capital cost , taking into consideration the cost savings that can be realised over the lifetime of the machine .
What I find interesting is how capital markets are now playing a role .
For example , underground coal miners , on top of the regulatory pressures they are facing , are now finding it very difficult to attract capital for their operations . The flipside is true when we think about some junior companies out of Canada that have announced plans to go carbon neutral and fully electric – they have been able to attract capital from investors that would typically steer away from mining . This is especially true when they are looking to mine ‘ battery minerals ’.
There is still a level of scepticism and hesitancy , but customers that have trialled BEVs generally realise the need to go all-electric . I do expect with the regulatory changes in certain jurisdictions where we do a lot of business , there will be more enquiries . If it becomes a tradeoff between going all-electric or spending a tonne of money on upgrading your ventilation infrastructure to abide by regulations , the battery-electric vehicle value proposition for existing operations will become a lot clearer .
IM : In terms of technology development , MacLean has also been developing automation and
digitalisation solutions . How do you see all three – electrification , automation and digitalisation – complementing each other ? MvK : The combination of electrification and digitisation is a good match . A lot of our telemetry developments came from the BEV side where we needed those diagnostics ; these are now carrying over to the diesel side . Also , integrating automation and digitisation makes a lot of sense for a lot of the same reasons that you need the data to automate operations .
A lot of the engineering challenges will be around automation and electrification working together , and how you get energy into the machine . Driving , stopping and controlling the machine is not a problem – it is actually probably easier on an electric machine – it is how to get energy into it . The consortium we are in with BluVein is one solution , but I don ’ t think it is the ‘ only ’ solution . There are others on the market , but they currently come with a price point that makes them prohibitive .
IM : I know you have partnered with universities and colleges on the robotics side of things in recent years . What ’ s the latest on these developments ? MvK : A lot of the collaboration , to this point , has focused on boom movements . We are starting to automate boom movements as we think it will have applications in not just oversize management with water cannons , blockholers , or secondary ore reduction drills , but shotcrete and explosives loading too .
We are also partnering on several other things with universities and colleges on tech development . One of the things that comes to mind is the Robo bolter we are working on right now . Here we are looking to put a robotic arm on the deck of our tried and proven Omnia bolter platform to take the operator out of the environment .
Customers have been telling us for a while that , due to the travel times , heat or seismic exposure , they would like to see the operator further removed from the face when it comes to bolting operations . At the same time , we wanted to make sure this solution had all the strengths of our proven platform bolter – being able to load up for an entire round , provide multiple types of support without extensive retooling , etc . We ’ re looking to introduce that product in 2023 .
Like many of our new products coming out , these vehicles will primarily be designed around battery-electric operation , with a diesel option . That is a shift in thinking – designing for electric with a diesel consideration , instead of the other way around . The grader is the exception to that as we had to make the first one in diesel form . But , when we look at our new explosives rig coming out next year , that is primarily designed as an electric machine , which we will make available in diesel as well . IM
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