Fortescue is using KUKA welding robots to handle 6 MW charging cables [video]

Humanoid robots aren’t ready to juice up the massive, 240-tonne electric haul trucks Fortescue is putting to work in Australia’s punishing Pilbara. Instead, the company is using specially modified and massively powerful automotive assembly-line robots from KUKA to wrangle the massive cables needed to deliver a mind-bending 6 MW of power to its trucks’ batteries.

While Chinese car brands capable of 2 MW “flash charging” are making headlines these days, Fortescue and Liebherr have been quietly working together to develop a 6MW charging system for their massive, ultra heavy-duty mining rigs since 2024 – but details about how the process actually works have been scarce.

Until now, that is. In a new video released by the company earlier this month, Fortescue explains how it delivers what amounts a controlled lightning bolt into the battery of its specially developed, 264 (short) ton Liebherr T264E electric haul truck. And, because the massive, liquid-cooled copper cables are too big, too heavy, and too dangerous for any human to handle, of course they’re using robots to get the job done.

“The challenge with a six megawatt charger is that nobody makes these, and therefore nobody makes a lot of the components, either,” says a Fortescue representative, in the video. “So, we’ve had to take systems and subsystems from different industries were using industrial robots that would normally be used for welding in a car factory.”

A little help, please

Fortescue was able to develop and refine its KUKA robots with help from a $10 million (AUD) grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which were earmarked to help the company develop a six megawatt (MW) fast charger test unit and support its ultimate goal of achieving true net zero operations by 2030.

“Leveraging our world-class capability in battery and charging solutions from motorsport, the fast chargers have been developed for the challenging conditions of the Pilbara,” explained Fortescue Zero’s then-Chief Executive Officer, Ellie Coates, when the grant was announced in 2024. “Equipped with robotic connection options, they will be able to power Fortescue’s future 240-tonne Liebherr T 264 battery electric trucks in just 30 minutes.”

The Liebherr T264E packs an impossibly large 3.2 MWh (3,200 kWh) battery pack – the equivalent capacity of about 40 road-going Tesla Model Y crossovers – to put that 30 minute spec into context. You can check out the company’s official video, below, then let us know what you think of the 6 MW charging robots in the comments.

Charging a 240-tonne mining truck

SOURCE | IMAGES: Fortescue; via The Driven.