Intramotev ReVolt Operating at Iron Senergy Cumberland Mine

Intramotev, a technology start-up building autonomous zero-emissions railcars and locomotives, in June 2023 finalized an agreement to provide Iron Senergy with three ReVolt battery-electric (BE) retrofitted hopper cars for use on its 17-mile private rail line that transports coal produced by its Cumberland Coal Mine to its Alicia Harbor facility on the Monogahela River in Waynesburg, Pa. On April 3, the company reported that it successfully deployed the first unit, which has accumulated 1,000 miles in revenue service as part of a traditional unit coal train, capturing propulsion energy from a lead diesel-electric locomotive’s regenerative braking, thereby reducing diesel fuel consumption.

This ReVolt application, which Intramotev describes as the first of its type in the world, is “a major step forward for sustainable freight transportation,” CEO Tim Luchini noted. “We’re excited to deliver the fuel savings and environmental benefits of the ReVolt to our customer Iron Senergy. This news marks an important milestone in our work to decarbonize mining and freight transportation, and we’re just getting started.”

“We’re thrilled to have partnered with Intramotev to deploy their forward-thinking technology,” Iron Senergy CEO and owner Justin Thompson said. We’re always searching for ways to double down on our commitment to innovation and sustainability, and this partnership helps accomplish that in a big way.”

Intramotev said it “continues to build momentum with customer deployments in the mining sector.” Later this year, the company will deploy its locomotive replacement, known as the TugVolt, at a calcium mine in Northern Michigan. TugVolts, supplied as a “proprietary kit that can retrofit/upfit existing railcars to become battery-electric,” can uncouple from the consist to independently provide first- and last-mile service,” and “enables freight to move with the flexibility of a truck, without breaking the existing model of rail operations.” The company at FreightWeekSTL 2023 in May 2023 reported on the commercial launch progress of the TugVolt.