Intramotev, the technology company building battery-electric railcar retrofits, has started operating its TugVolt technology at Carmeuse America’s calcium carbonate mine in Cedarville, Michigan.

This milestone, captured on video, makes it the world’s first independently driven battery-electric railcar in revenue service, according to the company.

With support from the Michigan Mobility Funding Program, Intramotev will deploy a total of three TugVolt battery-electric railcars at the Cedarville site. The deployment is estimated to eliminate up to 55,000 gallons (208,198 litres) of diesel consumption and 617 tons (560 t) of vehicle-level CO2 emissions.

“As Intramotev continues to serve customers across the country, we’re excited to share a glimpse of our technology in action,” Tim Luchini, Intramotev’s CEO, “Collaborating with a world-class partner like Carmeuse Americas brings us closer to achieving our mission of decarbonising mining and steel transportation.”

Jeff Bittner, Senior VP of Operations at Carmeuse, said: “We’re excited to partner with Intramotev to deploy their TugVolt technology. This partnership represents an incredible opportunity to increase our efficiency, decrease our carbon footprint, and keep our workers safe and focused on what they do best through adoption of emerging digital technologies.

“It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

TugVolt is a proprietary kit that can retrofit/upfit existing rail cars to become battery-electric. It can decouple to independently service first- and last-mile legs, providing the type of flexibility that, the company says, will allow the system to more readily compete with trucking.

The Carmeuse deployment is the latest in a year of major announcements from Intramotev, including a $14 million Series A fundraise, a deployment at Iron Senergy’s Cumberland Mine, and a switching agreement with freight carrier Eagle Drayage.