Carmeuse Americas contracted Intramotev for its TugVolt technology for a mining site in Cedarville, Michigan, U.S.A. With support from the Michigan Mobility Funding Program, Intramotev will deploy three TugVolt battery-electric railcars to support a new railway that will carry one six-car train of ore per hour.
The development will be “the first real-world operational deployment of a battery-electric freight railcar capable of operating without a locomotive pulling it,” Intramotev said. “It will also be one of the largest scale implementations of industrial robots.”
The deployment could reportedly eliminate up to 55,000 gallons of diesel consumption and 617 tons of vehicle-level CO2 emissions. It will be a win-win for everyone involved, leadership at the miner said. “This partnership represents an incredible opportunity to increase our efficiency, decrease our carbon footprint, and keep our workers safe and focused on what they do best through adoption of emerging digital technologies,” said Jeff Bittner, senior vice president of operations.
