Cambrian College officially opens its electric vehicle lab

Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ont., has officially opened its electric vehicle (EV) lab, which is now named the Vale Electric Vehicle Lab.

Mining giant Vale Base Metals made a $750,000 contribution to the lab, which will focus on advancing electric vehicle technology for underground mines.

"Our investment in this new lab space is a testament to Vale Base Metals' commitment to innovation, and sustainable development," said Gord Gilpin, director of Ontario operations for Vale Base Metals, in a news release.

"By supporting state-of-the-art facilities for prototyping, testing, and training, we aim to bridge the gap between industry needs and academic excellence. This partnership will help us all to stay ahead of the curve in the fast-evolving EV landscape."

Mike Commito, Cambrian's director of research and innovation, told CBC News the lab is meant to meet mining industry needs as companies like Vale and Glencore mine deeper underground to extract critical minerals like nickel and copper.

"One of the challenges with going deeper is obviously higher operating costs for ventilation," Commito said.

"And so by switching to EV, you can reduce the amount of diesel particulate matter in the air and therefore reduce some of your ventilation needs and thenyour operational costs."

He says in the near future a miner could drive anEV to work at a mine site where he or she would then operate a larger EV underground to mine metals, which in turn, would help make the batteries to build more EVs.

The lab is set up to test battery-electric vehicles, from the batteries themselves to their powertrains.

It's also a place where mining suppliers can work on prototypes or fine-tune existing products.

There's currently a small load-haul dump in the lab a vehicle designed to transport blasted ore so it can be processed made by a company called Walden Equipment. It ran as a plug-in electric vehicle, which always needed a wired connection to run.

But now Commito says a team at the lab is working to convert it to run on batteries instead.

The lab will also provide a space for students, such as those studying to become heavy equipment technicians, to gain experience working on electric vehicles.

"We need to prepare them for the coming shift that we're already seeing right now," Commito said.

While mining is the immediate focus for the lab, Commito says it's also well positioned to service other industries that use EVs.

He says most EV labs in Ontario are designed to accommodate passenger vehicles, but Cambrian's is equipped to handle larger batteries and industrial vehicles.

Outside of mining, that could include construction equipment or even city buses.