Kukkonen, S 2017, 'Energy consumption analysis of battery electric vehicles in underground environments', in M Hudyma & Y Potvin (eds), UMT 2017: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Underground Mining Technology, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 569-580, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1710_46_Kukkonen
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1710_46_Kukkonen/)
Abstract: Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have many benefits over conventional diesel powered vehicles such as higher energy efficiency, no local emissions, reduced need for ventilation, lower operating costs, less maintenance need and higher performance. On the other hand, BEVs have a shorter operating range than diesel vehicles. In order to realise all benefits, mining operation and design need to be adapted to the requirements of BEVs. One approach is to carry out energy consumption analysis of different vehicles and to optimise mining processes using such information. In this paper, the BEV energy consumption of driving and processes are analysed. Processes such as explosives charging, concrete spraying and logistics are discussed. The resulting energy consumption information is then used to discuss any adaptation requirements to operational mining and design. This includes topics like how to design battery charging infrastructure for uninterrupted operation and prospects of battery operated processes and operational expense savings.

Keywords: battery electric vehicles, fully electric, batteries, energy consumption