Motiv to power all-electric L.A. garbage trucks

Oct. 19, 2017
Zero-emission trucks to have enough power for a full day of residential garbage and recycling routes.

Coming off a recent announcement on California’s first all-electric refuse vehicle (ERV) heading to Sacramento, Motiv Power Systems’ is deploying two zero-emission refuse trucks to the City of Los Angeles.

As a continuation of a demonstration project funded by the California Energy Commission, these Class-8 ERVs use the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain to drive a Crane Carrier chassis, with an automated side-loader body built by Amrep.

The trucks will be made by Amrep in Los Angeles and are expected to be on the road in early 2018. The Los Angeles Sanitation plans to run the ERVs on residential and recycling routes and expects to save as much as 6,000 gallons of fuel per year.

 “Fossil-fueled garbage trucks emit about 20 times the carbon of the average U.S. home. They achieve just two to three miles per gallon, and stick to standard routes, making them ideal electrification targets for LA’s sustainability program,” said Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz. “We’re proud that our all-electric refuse trucks will help the city achieve its cleaner air goals, as well as save on operational and maintenance costs.”

Los Angeles is attempting to reduce greenhouse gas by 80% by 2050. Motiv’s scalable All-Electric Powertrain is designed to help public works and city service vehicles contribute to greenhouse gas reductions by reducing diesel emissions from a wide variety of vehicles, from refuse and work trucks, to school and shuttle buses.

Motiv’s modular design allows the same All-Electric Powertrain to be used across the full range of a city’s work trucks, from Class 4 through Class 8. The use of a single electric powertrain system for all the city’s electric work trucks simplifies the maintenance and operation of a growing municipal electric vehicle fleet, the company noted in a press release, thus reducing the cost of spare parts and training.

Similar to Motiv powered electric refuse trucks on the road in Sacramento, the Los Angeles trucks will have a payload capacity of nine tons and 1,000 pounds per cubic yard of compaction. All Motiv ERVs are equipped with 10 battery packs, expandable to 12 packs if needed for future route expansion. With up to 212 kWh of power, the Motiv powered ERVs supply enough electricity to efficiently move the truck and power the electric hydraulics throughout the day. Using the Motiv universal high power charger, the ERV batteries will reach full charge overnight.

This news comes on the heels of two all-electric Type-C school buses being placed on routes in neighboring San Bernardino County at the Colton Joint Unified School District and California’s first all-electric refuse truck to be placed into service in Sacramento, all powered by the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain.

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