Tag Archives: Julian Soles

First Mode opens new Seattle factory, boosts hybrid electric vehicle retrofit capacity

Environmental, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , ,

First Mode has hosted the grand opening of its factory in the SoDo district of Seattle, significantly boosting its capability to manufacture hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) retrofit kits for the mining sector.

Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee, and Zero Emission Transportation Association Executive Director, Albert Gore, among other key government, industry and union leaders, were there for the offical ribbon cutting, reflecting on the company’s work to decarbonise heavy industry.

The 40,000 sq.ft (3,716 sq.m) factory is now one of the largest clean tech manufacturing facilities in the city, according to First Mode, which is majority owned by Anglo American. Each year, it will produce the components and systems for up to 150 First Mode HEV retrofits. In addition, it is equipped to not only double its annual HEV throughput but rapidly pivot to full battery and hydrogen fuel cell EV retrofits as customer demand also grows for the company’s zero-emissions products, First Mode said.

The $22-million factory will employ up to 30 staff locally and cultivate impact around the world by helping to reduce the emissions of heavy industry, a hard-to-abate sector that is responsible for a quarter of carbon emissions globally, First Mode says.

“In mining, for example, a typical ultra-class haul truck – about the size of a three-story building – burns about one million litres of diesel fuel per year, producing around 2,700 t of carbon dioxide annually,” the company explained. “Across our customer market, over 13,000 haul trucks are in global operation, releasing 35 million t of carbon dioxide annually – the equivalent of nearly eight million gas-fueled passenger cars each year, slightly more than the number of cars in Washington state (USA).”

With no changes to infrastructure required, First Mode’s HEV retrofit keeps the truck’s existing assets intact – safeguarding the mining company’s previous investment in the truck while reducing its fuel usage and carbon emissions by up to 25%.

“But what fully differentiates First Mode’s HEV from the rest is its flexible, interoperable design that readies the truck for the final step on its path to zero emissions,” the company said. “Specifically, the design “feeds forward” into either First Mode’s full battery or next-generation hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle drivetrains, both of which are diesel-free.”

With an annual expected throughput of up to 150 HEV units, the First Mode factory is poised to generate the equivalent environmental impact of taking 90,000 passenger cars off the road each year.

First Mode CEO, Julian Soles, said: “With our factory, the clean energy future for heavy industry begins here in Seattle. [This is] because greener economies require greener minerals, and greener minerals require greener mines.”

Anglo American invests $200 million into new nuGen-focused First Mode vehicle

Environmental, Mining equipment, Mining finance, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , ,

Anglo American’s ambitious plans to roll-out its nuGen™ Zero Emissions Haulage Solution (ZEHS) have been given a boost with the announcement that it has signed a binding agreement with First Mode Holding to combine to the two entities.

Such a deal was mooted back in June when Anglo American confirmed it was in exclusive negotiations with First Mode – and had agreed non-binding terms – to combine the nuGen ZEHS with the specialist engineering technology company.

The two companies’ collaborative efforts led to the launch of the prototype nuGen ZEHS hydrogen-powered mine haul truck at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena PGMs mine in South Africa on May 6, 2022. This month the truck reached a significant milestone when it completed initial commissioning and was introduced into the mine’s commercial fleet operations, including pit and crusher activities, according to First Mode.

The latest agreement will see the mining company invest $200 million into a combined business to help fund the ongoing development of ZEHS which, upon completion of the transaction, values the business in the order of $1.5 billion and results in Anglo American owning a majority shareholding in First Mode.

Upon closing of the transaction, expected in January 2023, Anglo American will enter into a supply agreement with First Mode to decarbonise its global fleet of ultra-class mine haul trucks, of which approximately 400 are currently in operation, in support of Anglo American achieving its 2040 target for carbon-neutral operations.

The roll-out across Anglo American’s haul truck fleet over the next circa-15 years is subject to the completion of agreed and committed studies across seven mine sites, certain performance and cost criteria, and relevant regulatory, corporate and shareholder approvals, the mining company said. The supply agreement also includes the appropriate provision of critical supporting infrastructure such as refuelling, recharging and facilitation of hydrogen production.

Anglo American says it also recognises its role in supporting broader decarbonisation objectives outside its own business and that the technologies and capabilities it develops as part of the nuGen project present opportunities in other industries that rely on heavy duty forms of transport, such as rail.

In addition to accelerating the development and commercialisation of the ZEHS technology, the new combined business will allow strategic third parties to co-invest alongside Anglo American and First Mode, offering the opportunity to accelerate their own decarbonisation and participate in the potential offered by the clean ZEHS technology, the company added.

“The new combined business retains the First Mode name and will prioritise developing nuGen ZEHS, building on three years of extensive development by Anglo American and First Mode,” the company concluded.

In a separate press release from First Mode, it mentioned that current First Mode President and CEO, Chris Voorhees, will transition to the role of Chief Product & Technology Officer, overseeing the company’s global product and technology development out of Seattle. Julian Soles, Anglo American’s head of Technology Development, will take over as First Mode CEO and be based in First Mode’s new headquarters in London.

Voorhees said: “First Mode was founded in 2018 with the goal of building the barely possible. We have done just that and our mission is now to rapidly decarbonize heavy industry by dramatically reducing our customers’ greenhouse gas emissions. I can’t imagine a team better suited to this urgent challenge.”

Soles added: “The First Mode mission is much bigger than a single haul truck. Mining is how the world obtains the materials needed for the clean energy transition, and it is where the carbon footprint starts. This is where the First Mode solution begins; starting at the source, in mining, to replace diesel and accelerate the clean energy transition.”