On a sunny day visiting relatives in California, I noticed that one the neighbourhood garbage trucks was electric. What an excellent idea, garbage trucks rarely travel far, spend much of their time cruising through residential areas, meandering from bin to bin. I surely appreciated the lower volume of the EV, compared to the gas powered truck that roared by a little later to collect yard waste.
Some googling suggested that the electric garbage truck was the McNeilus Volterra ZSL, based on the Mack LR Electric truck (source). The truck has perhaps a 200 kWh battery pack, with 150 kW fast charging capability and when fully equipped for garbage collection, about 130 km of range (source).
While 130 km of range, is quite similar to my first 2015 Nissan Leaf, might be insufficient for a mass market car, its plenty for a garbage truck, particularly one that might operate in an urban environment. Here in Toronto for example, the main garbage terminal is about 10 km away from where I live, hence a truck servicing my area might drive about 60 km per day. Plus if the crew needs a lunch-break, that is an hour that could be used for charging, turning 130 kms into perhaps 200 km daily allowance.
The truck seemed to rely a fair bit on hydraulic systems, while fine for now, more efficiency could be had by swapping hydraulic actuators for something more electric, and I am sure further refinements will be found as cities hopefully embrace the concept of a quieter garbage truck. Something I would very much appreciate.
