{"id":10284,"date":"2025-05-08T19:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T19:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/?p=10284"},"modified":"2025-05-08T19:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T19:38:15","slug":"pivot-electric-machines-bets-on-retrofits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/pivot-electric-machines-bets-on-retrofits\/","title":{"rendered":"Pivot Electric Machines bets on retrofits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pivot Electric Machines\u2019 vision is to retrofit the world\u2019s existing fleets of diesel mining trucks \u2013some 46,000 vehicles over 100 tons \u2013 with next-generation battery systems, slashing both greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout three years ago, I had a \u2018Road to Damascus\u2019 moment,\u201d Michael Collins, CEO and co-founder of Pivot Electric Machines, said, recalling his decision to pivot from a storied career in geology and traditional mining to the frontier of electrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI realized what I was doing wasn\u2019t meaningful or relevant to the world we live in today. The technology was finally there to make electric mining equipment not just viable, but more profitable than diesel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Consider a typical 231-ton truck in the United States or Canada. Annual diesel fuel costs are roughly $1.6 million. Switch to electricity, and that figure plummets to about $400,000 \u2013 a 75% reduction. Even after factoring in the amortized cost of a battery pack (spread over seven years), the numbers are hard to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur best-developed business case shows a 22% internal rate of return (IRR) on the investment. That\u2019s a significant margin in mining, where companies will chase single-digit improvements in efficiency,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retrofit itself isn\u2019t cheap \u2013 about $4.5 million per truck, compared to $7 million for a new electric model \u2013 but the payback period is under two years, and the process aligns with the industry\u2019s standard seven-year rebuild cycle, minimizing operational disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMobile equipment accounts for 30% of a mine\u2019s carbon footprint, and even more when you factor in ventilation and air heating,\u201d Collins noted. \u201cRetrofitting just one truck is a massive lever for decarbonization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pivot\u2019s proprietary battery systems \u2013 developed in partnership with Prairie Machine, a co-founding shareholder \u2013 are engineered for the brutal realities of mining: extreme temperatures, dust, vibration, and 24\/7 operation. Each conversion integrates a 764-kWh battery pack, a robust 1,800-kW traction motor, and a fixed-ratio gearbox, all optimized for reliability and fast charging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pending $25 million contract for five trucks hinges on the successful demonstration of Pivot\u2019s first commercial conversion, expected to be deployed in Q3 2026. Discussions are underway with multiple mining companies, said Pivot, some operating fleets of over 100 trucks per site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pivot Electric Machines\u2019 vision is to retrofit the world\u2019s existing fleets of diesel mining trucks \u2013some 46,000 vehicles over 100 tons \u2013 with next-generation battery systems, slashing both greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs in the process. \u201cAbout three years ago, I had a \u2018Road to Damascus\u2019 moment,\u201d Michael Collins, CEO and co-founder of Pivot Electric Machines, said, recalling his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[621,3813],"coauthors":[1644],"class_list":["post-10284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equipment-technology","tag-mobile-equipment","tag-pivot-electric-machines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t