Zero-emissions freight mobility solutions developer Intramotev is touting its latest milestone today, successfully deploying its battery-electric self-propelled railcar with a mining client based in Pennsylvania.
Intramotev is a St. Louis-based company founded four years ago with the goal of developing autonomous, zero-emission rail solutions that not only decrease costs for railways but promote environmental responsibility across a longstanding yet archaic segment in freight.
In its short tenure, Intramotev has developed unique mobility solutions that utilize software and battery-electric propulsion technology, including the TugVolt railcar. This flagship car can be controlled from a smartphone and decouple from the consist (the group of railcars as a whole) and operate independently for first and last-mile legs of trips within traditional freight lines.
The company has also developed a ReVolt railcar that can be positioned to stay within the train’s consist and capture energy using regenerative braking to reduce diesel consumption from the line’s locomotive.
Following a $200,000 grant from Michigan’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME), Intramotev was able to further develop its TugVolt kit, putting three battery electric railcars into operation to support mining.
Less than a year later, Intramotev is reporting a successful deployment of sustainable railway technology for its freight client, Iron Senergy.
Intramotev deploys battery-electric railcar in Pennsylvania
Today, Intramotev shared it has successfully deployed its ReVolt battery-electric retrofit railcar at Iron Senergy’s Cumberland Mine in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania – described by its makers as a “world’s first.”
Leading up to today’s milestone, the company says the ReVolt railcar has already traversed 1,000 miles between its customer’s Cumberland Mine and Alicia Harbor facility. Intramotev CEO Tim Luchini spoke to the news:
We’re excited to deliver the fuel savings and environmental benefits of the ReVolt to our customer Iron Senergy. Today’s news marks an important milestone in our work to decarbonize mining and freight transportation, and we’re just getting started.
Iron Synergy founder and CEO Justin Thompson shared a similar sentiment, describing its partnership with Intramotev as a vital factor in the freight operator’s own commitments to promoting innovation and sustainability across the segment.
Looking ahead, Intramotev says it will continue customer deployments of battery electric railcar technology in the mining sector before putting its first TugVolt into operation at a calcium mine in Northern Michigan later this year.
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