MacLean, which launched the vehicles at a virtual event broadcast from the company's Research and Training Facility in Greater Sudbury, said the ss5 is the industry's first articulated EV sprayer designed for underground mining use.

This ss5 also has a re-designed operator's cab with enhanced visibility and noise attenuation to support in-cab spraying, as well as new dosing control and real-time thickness measurement technologies, said the company.

The vehicles join the company's existing EV offering, the 975 Omnia EV Bolter, which was launched in 2016. 

"Having access to a test decline right in our own backyard in Greater Sudbury made the process of fine-tuning the unit's design both more rapid and more successful in terms of being able to offer the industry a zero DPM [Diesel particulate matter], ‘no boots on the ground' shotcreting solution," said Jonathan Lavallee, global product manager.

"We knew with ss5 design we had a great opportunity to build on the success of the first EV unit MacLean … to give customers a complete solution for diesel-free operations within the ground support portion of the mining cycle," added Lavallee.

Patrick Marshall, Vice President of Product Management at MacLean, said access to the research centre had played a critical role in the vehicles' development.

"Having an applied research lab to connect the fit-for-purpose engineered design work being undertaken by our Advanced Vehicle Technology team with our manufacturing expertise and underground mining experience, has proven to an accelerator for our ability to deliver tech-enabled mining vehicle solutions," said Marshall.