Fortescue opens innovation centre for giant electric haul trucks and hydrogen racers

Fortescue boss Andrew Forrest has officially opened a new technical innovation centre in the UK, with an initial focus on refining the batteries needed for his company’s giant electric haul trucks, and a plan to add hydrogen

The $US23 million ($A36 million) site at Kidlington will be home to 300 highly skilled workers and is part of the WAE (Williams Advanced Engineering) company that Fortescue snapped up last year to help with its push into electrification and hydrogen.

Fortescue says the Kidlington facility will focus on the technical development, testing and prototype production of batteries and zero emission powertrains for motor sports, mining haul trucks, and other off-road and automotive applications.

Fortescue WAE is already testing batteries for its giant 240 tonne electric haul trucks at its mining sites in the Pilbara, and which are crucial to its $6.2 billion strategy to eliminate fossil fuels from its terrestrial iron ore operations.

The Kidlington facility will also exclusively develop and produce batteries for the first generation of Extreme H, a new hydrogen off-road racing event that will begin in February, 2025.

The company already provides batteries for the Extreme E Series. It says the Extreme H car will retain the same powertrain and chassis used in Extreme E, but will add a hydrogen fuel cell combined with a smaller battery to replace the larger battery as the principal energy source.

“This new technical innovation centre in Kidlington will not only drive the leading edge of decarbonised motorsports, but also lead the way to decarbonising heavy industry as well,” Forrest said in a statement.

“Fortescue bought Britain’s best racing battery maker not only to help decarbonise our own operations, but to help other businesses to adopt zero emission technologies as well, and cement UK as a green technology and manufacturing leader.”

The Kidlington site is co-located on the Oxford Technology Park and will have the capacity to produce and test up to 500 prototype battery systems per year with a total production capacity of 50 MWh/annum.

Judith Judson, the CEO of Fortescue WAE, said the facility will provide the battery and green technology solutions to enable companies to decarbonise their operations.

“The world can’t afford for businesses to wait, so we are showing them that moving to zero emission solutions and away from fossil fuels is not only possible, but can be profitable as well,” she said.

“