Dive Brief:

• Wrightspeed, the California-based company working to make electric waste trucks mainstream, has generated a lot of interest in its electric power train kits. The problem the company is dealing with now is how to produce enough parts to keep up with that demand.
• The company anticipates manufacturing enough power trains to outfit up to 5,000 trucks. The parts can be installed locally, as the technology is not complicated, according to Ian Wright, the company's CEO.
• Wrightspeed has been testing its electrified fleet over the past 14 months and anticipates having its first truck street legal and hauling waste in the next few months.

Dive Insight:

Wrightspeed amassed $32 million in funding and is currently raising more capital in order to mass-produce the parts. Manufacturing will take place at a facility in Alameda, CA.

According to Wright, sanitation trucks use 14,000 gallons of fuel annually. Wrightspeed aims to save “ten times the pollution per dollar shipped, and ten times the fuel savings because we are targeting heavy duty, highly polluting vehicles.” 

Wright has no qualms about the company’s place in the industry and says, “We are going to dominate the market.”