Dive Brief:
- Chinese manufacturer BYD Company Ltd., in partnership with the Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group Ltd., debuted what it says is the world's first all-electric line of sanitation vehicles, as reported by Clean Technica.
- This includes 26 different models with capacities ranging from one to 32 tons. These different vehicles will sweep, collect, compress and transport a variety of materials. One model even has refrigerated transportation capabilities for hazardous waste.
- The Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group is one of the city's largest companies. It will replace 45% of its current diesel fleet with electric vehicles by the end of the year and 100% by the end of next year.
Dive Insight:
BYD is already known for its electric vehicles, including a small fleet of trucks that were debuted last year, and this marks a major step forward for the technology. In addition to reducing emissions, the electric trucks also create less noise and are expected to cut fuel costs almost in half compared to diesel.
The trucks run on iron-phosphate batteries, which can be charged within two to three hours and have a range of up to 400 kilometers. They also have an independent electric motor which controls the fan and various pumps, a 360 degree camera and built-in GPS. One of the most interesting features is the ability for trucks to charge other trucks in the field.
Mack Trucks recently debuted a new model with an electric Wrightspeed Route 1000 powertrain, including a regenerative braking system, and other companies are working on their own prototypes as well. While this technology is still developing companies have begun shifting away from diesel to compressed natural gas in the meantime — though electric looks to be the real way of the future.
