A recent potential $1 billion deal between global e-technology company SEA Electric and Dublin-based company MEVCO could see a ‘large-scale’ rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) across many of Australia’s mining operations.
SEA Electric has made the next step in its journey to electrify the world’s commercial vehicle fleet, by signing a ‘significant’ memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MEVCO, a systems integrator focused exclusively on electric light commercial vehicles within the mining industry.
The paid partnership will see specialist all-electric Hilux and Landcruiser models made available for the mining industry, with MEVCO making the commitment to order 8,500 units over the next 5 years.
The company notes the deal has a total value of about $1 billion. At the time of the launch, over half of the 2023 allocation of the Australian-developed battery-electric vehicles had been pre-sold, with demonstration models available in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, SEA Electric President and Founder Tony Fairweather says this partnership with MEVCO is about proving to the world that EVs can be deployed and perform reliably within the mining sector.
“For us it’s about scale and being able to show that electric vehicle technology can be deployed reliably and supported well in those sorts of segments. We will be initially focusing on the lower end of mining, we won’t be going into the most difficult mining applications until we have proved ourselves in front of the easier applications.
“Mining is obviously a huge global industry and getting this right can continue our partnership with MEVCO on global expansion, specifically within the mining sector”
Mining is obviously a huge global industry and getting this right can continue our partnership with MEVCO on global expansion, specifically within the mining sector.”
MEVCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matt Cahir adds: “This is a pivotal partnership for the mining industry.
It enables the world’s leading EV technology for heavy and light commercial trucks to be commercialised on a scale that makes sense for the bespoke needs of the mining sector.”
The company also notes at the heart of the arrangement with MEVCO is its proprietary SEA-Drive power-system, which provides leading all-electric range and driving performance, with zero local emissions of carbon dioxide.
Available in various mining-specific designs for 4×4 and 4×2 configurations, the vehicles can be specified with 2 SEA-Drive options, namely an 88kWh battery which provides 380km of range, or a 60kWh battery delivering up to 260km of use.
According to figures published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), 33,410 EVs were reported as sold in Australia in 2022, up 94% on the 17,243 figure in 2021, and accounted for 3.1% of all new motor vehicles sold in the year.
A report published by BloombergNEF forecasts that EV sales globally are poised to reach 13.6 million deliveries by the end of 2023, with around 75% of those being fully electric.
Mining companies in particular are expected to adopt the use of EVs on sites as they continue the hunt for commodities such as copper, lithium and nickel, which are vital for the construction and development of EVs and the batteries that power them.
This view is shared by Fairweather, who states: “Across all industries, companies now understand they have a role to play in ensuring they are a part of the solution to the environmental problems we face.”
While lithium is the best known of the critical minerals, a slew of other materials are also required, including nickel, cobalt, zinc, and copper, all of which are found in abundance in Australia.
A report from the World Economic Forum states that a single EV requires 8kg of lithium, and that global lithium production totalled 100,000 tonnes (90.7 million kg) last year, a figure that is increasing as the demand for EVs grows globally.
In order to meet the slowly increasing demand of commercial EVs in Australia, it is estimated that more than 300 new mines may need to be built over the next decade to meet projected energy storage batteries and EV demand.
SEA Electric is a privately held company founded in 2012 that specialises in the production and 100% electrification of commercial vehicles worldwide.
The company deploys products in 8 countries, namely the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, India and South Africa, collectively achieving more than 2 million miles of service via independent OEM-testing and real-world operation.
SEA Electric has deployed more than 200 battery-EVs to date, with telematics data proving the SEA-Drive power-system’s world-class total cost of ownership. In the next 5 years, SEA Electric predicts that its zero-emissions commercial vehicles will have eliminated over 3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions from the transport task.
MEVCO is a systems integrator specialising in battery electric light Commercial Vehicles and all associated infrastructure. Its end-to-end service reduces the risk and accelerates the transition to electric mining fleets.
Images: SEA Electric
