Local mining giants appear to be lining up to get their hands on all-electric Toyota HiLux conversions made in Australia, as they look to ditch their diesel-powered packhorses .
That’s according to mining electric vehicle supplier MEVCO, the company earlier this year detail a project to make the 8500 new or almost new HiLux And LandCruiser diesel engines into zero-emissions, silent electric cars within the next 5 years.
The nearly billion-dollar deal is designed to capitalize on demand from the resources sector for battery-powered horses that will do the job in some of the world’s harshest conditions. No car brand offers such a car (LDV eT60 is a potential, albeit limited, exception), an opportunity arose.
According to MEVCO chief executive Matt Cahir, the challenge will not be convincing Australia’s most important economic sector to join, but rather sourcing enough Toyota sponsors to electrify its fleets of vehicles. them from the very beginning.
“[We have] 5000 orders right now from the mining space, from a week in Perth doing trips with 44 miners. We have stopped taking orders,” said Mr. Cahir auto expert recently.
This includes major miners focusing on lithium and nickel for export into EV battery materials. The first customer was Mineral Resources, which operates two of the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposits, in the redlands of remote WA.
MEVCO is not responsible for the engineering, but has instead made an agreement with Australia-based (and globally renowned) commercial electric vehicle conversion company SEA Electric to match the transmission system. its exclusive EV engine. This is an ideal combination as SEA Electric seeks to strengthen its customer base.
SEA created the electric Hino truck And recently signed an agreement with iconic truck maker Mack. It even ‘re-energizes’ iconic American yellow school buses for that market. Its EV transmission is transferable, and the battery can be reused as permanent storage later, paired with on-site solar arrays.
Additional development work on the MEVCO HiLux EV is being carried out by New South Wales-based GB Auto Group to ensure the EV pipeline works as intended.
Toyota Australia is not directly involved in the project, although it has previously worked on a LandCruiser 70 Series EV with BHP for potential exploitative use.
However, GB Auto Project Engineer Nicholas Gardner, who was an Evaluation Engineer at Toyota Australia for three years, until July 2021, should know the product very well.
Therefore, although finding thousands of sponsor HiLuxes is not easy, benefiting the project is the fact that many operators already have a large number of vehicles on order. MEVCO also says it will buy as much as possible from dealers, as long as they are under 12 months old.
Mr Cahir said Australia’s mission to electrify mining vehicles – needed as mines started to work towards ambitious net-free targets and the need to figure out how to make it all work – has been around since about 5 years ago, was the long-term goal of private equity company owners. Fund Source.
“We’re building something that will work in the hottest climates in Australia, the dirtiest or dustiest environments, up to your neck in mud… needing to haul or pull a lot of power, works on steep or inclined places,” he says.
“…We chose the HiLux and the LandCruiser because they are dominant pack horses, chassis built to last… [it was] looking for architecture to match that.”
A key application for the HiLux EV will be underground, where zero exhaust from the exhaust is a real win.
The SEA-Drive EV electrical system implant comes in a 4×2 form factor and will soon be available as a 4×4 (a motor in the driveway that runs the mechanical system). MEVCO claims the 60kWh battery for a claimed range of 260km and 88kWh for a range of up to 380km.
DC charging is available for the system, designed to deliver up to 80% battery power in less than an hour. All vehicles will be covered by a 5-year factory warranty on the battery, designed to last for a decade.
It’s not clear what will happen to all of Toyota’s new diesel engines, but options include using them for on-site parts or selling them. There is currently no arrangement for Toyota to supply MEVCO and SEA with vehicles that do not have a direct path from the factory, called gliders.
Mr. Cahir added that MEVCO will look at ways to mine new federal government funds is designed to incubate innovative Australian manufacturing companies in the amount of $15 billion.
By the way, the MEVCO deal is not the only example of electrified HiLuxes in Australia.
At the end of last year, the Australian company ROEV has announced the details of its Electric Vehicle Fleet Programthis will allow customers to convert their post-2016 HiLux and Ford Ranger 4×2 and 4×4 wagons into pure electric motors.
There are two suggested configurations: the 64kWh Standard Package offers a range of up to 240km and the 96kWh Extension Pack offers up to 360km.
One takeaway from all of this is clear: While Australia is stuck in a slow lane when it comes to the popularity of EVs, the private sector is closing the gap.
