Canadian mining group Teck Resources on Tuesday announced the pilot of a fully electric on-highway transport truck to haul copper concentrate, marking what it says is the first use of a battery-electric truck to haul copper concentrate worldwide.

The truck would travel between Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Operations (HVC) in south-central British Columbia and a rail loading facility in Ashcroft, British Columbia.

Teck stated that the pilot of the MEDATech ALTDRIVE-powered fifth-wheel Western Star would help to advance the group’s goal of displacing the equivalent of 1 000 internal combustion vehicles by 2025. It would also provide valuable learnings for the electrification of Teck’s vehicle fleet on the path to achieving the company’s goal of reducing the carbon intensity of its operations by 33% by 2030 and becoming a carbon-neutral operator by 2050.

“Testing and implementing new electric vehicle technologies is one way we are taking concrete steps towards achieving our goal of being carbon neutral across our operations,” said president and CEO Don Lindsay.

“Teck is already one of the world’s lowest carbon-intensity producers of copper, zinc and steelmaking coal, which are key materials to enable the low-carbon transition, and we are committed to further reducing the carbon intensity of our operations to support a cleaner future.”

The pilot is expected to begin in summer 2022 and is projected to eliminate 418 t/y of carbon dioxide– the equivalent of about 90 passenger cars – for the first pilot vehicle, while also reducing costs through fuel savings and reduced maintenance.

“The fully-electric ALTDRIVE system is designed for this haul cycle at HVC requiring a vehicle that weighs 65 000 kg loaded, 25 000 kg unloaded, and completes the same four to five 95-km roundtrips every workday,” said MEDATech president Robert Rennie.

“Since the truck batteries will charge on the downhill haul through regenerative braking, the rig will require only a short battery recharge at the Ashcroft, British Columbia rail terminal so the haul cycle time is expected to be the same as a conventional truck.”

The battery-electric drive system is expected to work more efficiently than a comparable diesel engine, outputting a constant 620 kW (approximately 830 hp) and is configured to continuously output almost double the amount of torque.