{"id":164711,"date":"2025-01-07T08:29:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T22:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railexpress.com.au\/?p=118271"},"modified":"2025-01-07T08:29:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T22:29:35","slug":"taking-the-lead-on-battery-electric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=164711","title":{"rendered":"Taking the lead on battery electric"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The company is poised to support the rollout of battery electric technology in Australia. IMAGE: Siemens Mobility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Siemens Mobility<\/a> has remained at the forefront of battery electric technology globally and stands ready to bring the same technology to Australia.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Battery electric<\/a> has come into vogue in cars over the past few years, but Siemens Mobility has been developing the technology in its rolling stock since 2014.<\/p>\n

Across Europe, many of the rail lines are already electrified however there are smaller lines or gaps in between the lines with distances of 80 to 100 kilometres. Siemens Mobility\u2019s technology development was centred around bridging that gap.<\/p>\n

Jens Lind, international sales director for locomotives at Siemens Mobility, said the company has been committed to improving its battery electric options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began this journey with battery operations across Austria where we carried out testing with varying slopes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we learnt was that we could go far above the 80 kilometres we were looking for and we began developing the battery system from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lind said that to those outside of rail, it could appear that the industry is slow moving when it comes to updating and upgrading technology, but the life cycle of rolling stock can make transitioning toward zero emissions challenging. Siemens Mobility is finding ways to speed up the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our robust Research and Development (R&D) programs to continually develop new technology to support rail\u2019s\u00a0decarbonisation.<\/p>\n

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Jens Lind is the international sales director for locomotives at Siemens Mobility. IMAGE: Siemens Mobility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are not only invested in battery electric. Our R&D operates on parallel tracks where we focus on hydrogen development and our battery electric development separate to each other, our battery electric system is just further along the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lind said that while heavy haul and passenger rail can have vastly different axle loads, the learnings can be shared across both.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about scalability and taking our learnings from other areas and bringing it to heavy haul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is a strong market and is ready to begin pilot programs to test the battery electric locomotives capability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have not applied these systems in Australia, we have done so in similar hot and sandy conditions. We are ready to bring this technology to the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battery electric systems<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Siemens Mobility is prepared for the battery electric transition in Australia, the company already operates several wired electric locomotives in some of the harshest regions in the country. Lind explained that the obvious challenge will be utilising this system in Australian conditions, but the company has excellent experience in Doha to draw on.<\/p>\n

Siemens Mobility has been developing its battery electric rolling stock for a significant period and has been at the forefront of the sector\u2019s decarbonisation journey.<\/p>\n

Lind said the Federal Government\u2019s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 confirmed the company was travelling in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven before the 2030 targets came out, we were beginning to make this change from diesel to electric,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are an electrical company, so this was a logical step, we then understood we needed to develop our battery systems. We have complete faith in the functionality of our battery systems working in any environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having used battery electric solutions for close to a decade, Lind believes the company has ironed out any potential issues and has full faith in its systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know it will work because we have done it so many times for so many operators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lind said that Siemens Mobility is working closely with organisations in the field \u2013 whether it be heavy haul operators or mining companies \u2013 to understand how it can support the battery electric transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey understand this is something they need to begin looking at as the net zero targets approach and we are fully ready to support them in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to explain that while the initial cost of battery electric machines may be\u00a0higher than diesel, there is less\u00a0maintenance.<\/p>\n

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Siemens Mobility has been working hard to develop battery electric and hydrogen options. IMAGE: Siemens Mobility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe maintenance of the locomotive is reduced to simply removing parts that deteriorate due to wear and tear, greatly reducing costs for operators,\u201d he said. \u201cThose maintenance costs are being moved into the OpEx instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siemens and decarbonisation<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Lind said that Siemens is \u201call in\u201d on its decarbonisation journey and has for years been moving away from diesel-powered\u00a0locomotives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an easy solution as electrification was something we had done for years in other parts of the business and then it was about building that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the company has been seeking to improve efficiency in rail for a long time, but it made a clear commitment to a green transition many years ago.<\/p>\n

That commitment has attracted young people into the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey see that what we are doing is supporting their future and their children\u2019s\u00a0future.\u201d<\/p>\n

With ten years of battery system development, Siemens Mobility has experience with a range of systems and on different networks, and it continues to make\u00a0improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are getting better at charging the batteries, knowing how to better utilise them by leaning on our experience working in places such as Doha,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a business we will continue to develop the battery systems as well, finding new technology that will make it more efficient and improve charging systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will work on ways to recycle batteries; it is all a part of our decarbonisation journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having been in this program for a few years, it can now apply its learnings from other parts of the business to the heavy haul\u00a0sector.<\/p>\n

While sector confidence in the technology is still growing, Lind said he\u2019s happy it\u2019s gaining acceptance more widely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still hear some funny things about batteries, which we understand are genuine concerns people have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe battery is of course something you must take care of but everything we are doing is making the technology better and\u00a0better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will see new technologies in the coming years that will be exciting, and we are keen to be on that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Taking the lead on battery electric<\/a> appeared first on Rail Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"
The company is poised to support the rollout of battery electric technology in Australia. IMAGE: Siemens Mobility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Siemens Mobility has remained at the forefront of battery electric technology globally and stands ready to bring the same technology \u2026 <\/p>\n

The post Taking the lead on battery electric<\/a> appeared first on Rail Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","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,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10518,170,8833,163,11088,180,3576,801],"tags":[10376],"class_list":["post-164711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-and-sustainability","category-freight-rail","category-heavy-haul","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","category-research-and-development","category-rolling-stock","category-rollingstock-manufacturing","category-sustainability","tag-rail-express"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=164711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164712,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164711\/revisions\/164712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=164711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=164711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=164711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}