CHARGING SOLUTIONS
The electrification enablers
Epiroc’ s new charger has been designed as a truly mine-ruggedised solution that can charge in environments going from-20 ° C up to + 50 ° C, can withstand vibrations and minor rockfall impacts, and is easily transportable, according to Trent Sears
Established protocols are allowing mining companies to choose from a wide range of charging solutions for the newest generation of battery machines, but not all are fit for mining, Dan Gleeson reports
The electrification journey the underground mining industry has been on in the last decade-or-so has taught OEMs and mining operators many lessons: regulations lag the operational reality associated with battery-electric vehicle( BEV) deployments, battery safety doesn’ t begin and end with thermal runaway mitigation, ramp infrastructure is integral to achieving increased speed on grade, personnel are unlikely to treat these machines differently to diesel variants, etc.
A significant industry learning has also come on the charging side of electrification.
The industry looks like converging around the CCS and MCS protocols that are prevailing above ground in on highway applications, but there is less consensus around how to equip chargers for the realities of an underground mine.
Trent Sears, Global Product Manager – EV Infrastructure at Epiroc, explains:“ We’ ve been pioneering electrification since 2015 when we launched our first generation BEVs to work in underground mines, which, as
68 you know, are environments where dust, humidity and heat are commonplace.
“ Since launching these machines into the field, our awareness of what impact these harsh environments have on machine availability has grown.”
The company has played a significant role in trying to increase machine uptime using its own chargers and battery swap infrastructure, plus implementing its battery servicing packages for clients, yet the shift toward electrification remains an ongoing process.
“ We and our customers still experience prolonged delays with charging, the need to tram long distances to get to a battery charge bay, damage to charging infrastructure caused by dust and heat, etc,” Sears said.“ That is before you get into the potential for operations with mixed BEV fleets having to own and maintain multiple chargers from multiple OEMs.”
This backdrop has led to the company designing a new“ dynamic” and flexible 480 kW charger customised to the underground mine that has just been launched.“ We aim to be able to mitigate these issues by providing a truly mine-ruggedised solution to the market that can charge in environments going from-20 ° C up to + 50 ° C, can withstand vibrations and minor rockfall impacts, and is easily transportable,” Sears explains.
“ The aim is to make it as adaptable as possible to the mining environment; if it’ s adaptable to that environment, it will work anywhere!”
The obvious adaptations for mining are clear to see with the ability to connect the 480 kW charger with a maximum of eight“ charge posts” that can be positioned up to 300 m away from the charger position. This could see that total 480 kW of charge power distributed to machines operating on different mine levels to improve charging availability and reduce the downtime to travel to dedicated charge bays.
These same posts are fitted with LED indicators to quickly allow operators to gauge from a distance how much charge
International Mining | APRIL 2026