MacLean enters surface mining sector with battery electric grader

MacLean Engineering reaffirms its commitment to the global mining community with the establishment of a Surface Mining Vehicle Division, building on its 50-year history as a fit-for-purpose underground OEM and a decade of battery electric vehicle (EV) design and support in North America, Africa, and Australia. 

The inaugural model for this new division is the GR8 EV surface grader. MacLean has also announced a collaboration with Fortescue in support of its Real Zero 2030 decarbonization strategy for their iron ore operations in Western Australia. MacLean plans to develop additional products to complement the GR8 and help the global surface mining sector accelerate its decarbonization timelines.  

MacLean celebrates a decade of EV sales while looking towards decarbonization goals

"As a company we turned 50 in 2023 and in 2025 we are also celebrating our 10-year anniversary of our EV series. Now we are making another decisive move towards providing EV for the surface mining sector around the globe," remarks David Jacques, MacLean vice president of surface mining vehicles. "With a decade of EV experience in the underground mining sector, 100+ units sold and commissioned and 500,000+ operating hours logged, we are well positioned to bring our expertise and learnings around EV equipment to surface mining operations." 

"Our message to the mining world is simple and powerful — we are here now to accelerate your fleet decarbonization requirements," adds Dan Stern, senior product manager at MacLean. "Our aspirations are much broader and longer-term than just that one surface mining vehicle model, we have a variety of planned ancillary EVs to help realize core business objectives of safety, productivity, and cost controls. To mining companies around the globe - we want to hear about your decarbonization and operational optimization plans. We're here to listen and provide solutions."