Gold Fields says it has partnered with Pinjarra, WA-based Murray Engineering Pty Ltd in the development phase of their Battery Electric Vehicle, which is being showcased at Austmine 2021 and is set to to begin an underground trial at the Granny Smith gold mine near Laverton in September 2021. The ultra-fast recharging Battery Electric Vehicle is an eLV which works in conjunction with the Siemens SichargeUC, itself developed as part of a collaboration announced last year to develop a ground-breaking high-powered electric vehicle charging station for use at mines both below and above ground.

According to a report in Australian EV publication The Driven, the vehicle uses a 79-series Toyota Landcruiser chassis fitted with a 40-50 kWh lithium titanate battery – a process carried out by Murray. The vehicles and chargers will be able to operate both below and above ground. Siemens says the SichargeUC high power DC chargers will provide an output range from 125 kW to 600kW while the chargers will allow vehicles to be recharged in 10 minutes.