An electric mining truck caught on fire in Hazelmere, prompting a hazmat general warning from emergency services due to the potentially dangerous smoke.
An electric mining truck caught on fire in the industrial area of Hazelmere, prompting a hazmat general warning from emergency services due to the potentially dangerous smoke caused when batteries burn.
The truck was on site at Electric Power Conversions Australia’s operations, a company that specialises in retrofitting diesel-powered mining haulage trucks into zero emission vehicles.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services was called to the scene at EPCA headquarters on Central Avenue in Hazelmere at about 9am to deal with the truck and various spot fires that occurred in nearby bushland.
A two-year startup, EPCA uses lithium-ion batteries in its conversion of mining trucks which started with a 100-tonne Caterpillar 777D truck, engineering it to provide eight hours of running time after a 50-minute fast charge as well as far cheaper running costs.
EPCA founder Clayton Franklin told Business News the fire was a minor and had been brought under control, including any issues with air pollution.
“It was a very small incident,” Mr Franklin said.
“We just have to put in a new battery.”
EPCA was founded in 2023 and has already showcased its work in Australia and the US.
Late last year it was awarded a $250,000 Mining, Equipment, Technology and Services grant from a program overseen by the Minerals Research Institute of WA, which was part of a $500,000 research program led by EPCA to develop appropriate battery cooling systems for the mining environment.
“EPCA’s research has highlighted that the cooling system has been the biggest single point of failure from previous Battery Electric Truck projects worldwide,” the MRIWA said its website.
It also secured a $3 million grant from the state government’s Clean Energy Future Fund to convert a 150-tonne mining haul truck from diesel to battery electric to prove the technology for wider deployment of electric conversions.
