North Bay manufacturer Miller Technology is becoming a global leader in battery electric utility vehicles for mining
The company announced the successful launch of its new battery electric low-profile grader for underground mining.
"Customer response and trials at the BAUMA trade show in Munich, Germany in October were extremely positive for a battery electric vehicle that fills a market gap," says a company release.
“This is another great day for Miller, for North Bay, for northern Ontario and for Canada as we continue to roll out more battery electric vehicles for mining”, said Dan Bachand, the CEO of Miller.
Miller’s E-Grader was built by retrofitting a HBM-Novas 110-M low-profile grader with Miller’s patented Powered by IONIC Drive system. Low-profile graders are used in underground mining where the height profile of the mine is not tall enough for conventional graders. Historically these graders have had diesel engines, which emit greenhouse gas emissions and impair underground air quality.
"Graders are even more essential when mines add battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to their utility vehicle fleets, such as Miller’s BEV Land Cruisers that launched earlier this year, because BEVs regenerate their batteries on the descent into the mine. The smoother the grade of the descent, the stronger the regen per meter, and so the low-profile grader is an essential tool as mines expand their BEV fleets," explains the release.
“With our original build Relay, BEV conversion kit and now the E-Grader, the Ionic Drive System that Miller has developed has arrived at the top of the battery electric heavy duty-cycle drive systems. I want to thank our team members for their hard work. All of our staff have helped get us to this point”, said Bachand.
The E-Grader is currently being checked out in Germany by international customers who attended the BAUMA trade show and will be returning to Canada from January 2023 onward for North American customer visits in North Bay and Sudbury, with the intent to ramp up production in Spring 2023.
