DW: Sure, but can they make butter that doesn't melt in your hand!?! Asking for a friend...
Australian miner Fortescue has finished a battery-electric locomotive built to recharge itself on the job. The 1.7-mile-long “Infinity Train” will start each run at Pilbara mining hubs about a thousand feet above sea level, lugging 34,000 tons of iron ore downhill to the port. As it descends, regenerative brakes turn gravity into electricity, filling the onboard batteries.
Once unloaded, the far lighter locomotive climbs the 472-mile line back uphill using the stored charge, no diesel and no charging station needed. Fortescue, which now burns more than 21 million gallons of diesel a year, spent about $50 million on the prototype and hopes to slash 11-percent of its direct emissions while cutting fuel bills to zero by 2030. Locomotive 001 is undergoing yard tests and should enter service later this year, potentially showing other heavy haulers how to turn hills into free power.
Source: Autopian