The biggest EV in the country has been unveiled in Otago today.
The electric excavator, weighing in at about 360 tonnes, is the latest addition at Oceana Gold Macraes Gold Mine, to reduce their carbon footprint.
With an excavator that’s got a bit of everything, the driver perches about 7m above the ground.
This is what $10 million can buy in the EV game.
Today, they used Minister of Mines Shane Jones for scale — putting him up against the 22 cubic metre bucket.
Reacting to the electric giant, Jones said it was an “overdue step” in the industry to “win back the hearts and minds” of people who doubted “we can have climate-smart mining”.
The EV was part of the mine’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2030.
Oceana Gold Corporation legal and public affairs senior vice president Alison Paul said it has been “pretty clear” a business like theirs “burns a lot of diesel” and conventional mines needed to decarbonise. They weren’t ruling out getting more electric machines in their fleet down the track.
Inside the mine, there’s proof of the excavators Midas touch. There’s molten gold, $2.5 million worth.
To see the gold mine and the electric excavator in action, click the video at the top of this article.