5 ms·

Apparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. They go up the hill empty, load up with tons of rock, and regen all the way back d

Apparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. They go up the hill empty, load up with tons of rock, and regen all the way back down which is more than enough to recharge. This makes my engineer's heart smile.

SigmundA 7y ago
Yes that is a beautiful application of regenerative braking I have to say.
alkonaut 7y ago
Here I was thinking stuff was loaded down in the mine and then driven UP out of the mine. I realize there are differnt kinds of mines, but assuming it's a hole in the ground, the truck takes the material up, and the hole isn't situated on a hill... why and where is it going down with material? Really interested to read about this.
- goliatone 7y ago
  Probably meant to write a quarry rather than a mine. I think GP was talking about edumper[1] https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-truck-self-charging/ https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-...
  - alkonaut 7y ago
    Ok " drives up a 13-percent incline to pick up the 65 tons of lime and marl it needs to bring to a nearby cement factor" It was a particular scenario where the quarry was uphill from a factory. Most mines and quarries probably don't have that possibility (They are both holes).
    - sgc 7y ago
      Many quarries are on mountains and this is not an uncommon scenario.
bryanlarsen 7y ago
more details about that particular truck: https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces-more-energy-than-it-uses/ https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces...
rayiner 7y ago
> Apparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. Well that can't be true.
- tupshin 7y ago
  Yes. Yes it can. Regenerative braking downhill, while holding a full load, can generate more power than it takes to move the empty truck back up.
- ska 7y ago
  > Well that can't be true. Think it through a bit more, there isn't any physics being broken here, because the load (i.e. mass) only travels one way.
randyrand 7y ago
Those trucks still have to plug in though but to discharge. Regen breaking stops working when the battery is full.
- elihu 7y ago
  With a big enough hill, you could use the excess energy to smelt the ore on the way down.
  - journalctl 7y ago
    The key to sustainability is to organize manufacturing across large height differentials. I’d better open some mines in Denver.
adrianmonk 7y ago
The mines are located at the top of a hill? I tend to think of mines as being down underground. Are we talking about strip mining here?
- detaro 7y ago
  in that case, top of the hill compared to where to material needs to go, which is at the foot of the mountain.
callesgg 7y ago
Similar stuff happens in a ore mine in Sweden with freight trains going downhill to the coast from the mine. https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html

SigmundA 7y ago

Yes that is a beautiful application of regenerative braking I have to say.

alkonaut 7y ago

Here I was thinking stuff was loaded down in the mine and then driven UP out of the mine. I realize there are differnt kinds of mines, but assuming it's a hole in the ground, the truck takes the material up, and the hole isn't situated on a hill... why and where is it going down with material? Really interested to read about this.

goliatone 7y ago
Probably meant to write a quarry rather than a mine. I think GP was talking about edumper[1] https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-truck-self-charging/ https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-...
- alkonaut 7y ago
  Ok " drives up a 13-percent incline to pick up the 65 tons of lime and marl it needs to bring to a nearby cement factor" It was a particular scenario where the quarry was uphill from a factory. Most mines and quarries probably don't have that possibility (They are both holes).
  - sgc 7y ago
    Many quarries are on mountains and this is not an uncommon scenario.

bryanlarsen 7y ago

more details about that particular truck: https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces-more-energy-than-it-uses/ https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces...

rayiner 7y ago

> Apparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. Well that can't be true.

tupshin 7y ago
Yes. Yes it can. Regenerative braking downhill, while holding a full load, can generate more power than it takes to move the empty truck back up.
ska 7y ago
> Well that can't be true. Think it through a bit more, there isn't any physics being broken here, because the load (i.e. mass) only travels one way.

randyrand 7y ago

Those trucks still have to plug in though but to discharge. Regen breaking stops working when the battery is full.

elihu 7y ago
With a big enough hill, you could use the excess energy to smelt the ore on the way down.
- journalctl 7y ago
  The key to sustainability is to organize manufacturing across large height differentials. I’d better open some mines in Denver.

adrianmonk 7y ago

The mines are located at the top of a hill? I tend to think of mines as being down underground. Are we talking about strip mining here?

detaro 7y ago
in that case, top of the hill compared to where to material needs to go, which is at the foot of the mountain.

callesgg 7y ago

Similar stuff happens in a ore mine in Sweden with freight trains going downhill to the coast from the mine. https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html