Chicago To Green Its Garbage Collection With Electric Garbage Trucks
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 20, 2012 10:35PM
On Monday, Chicago became the first city to sign a contract to add electric garbage trucks to its fleet. The five-year, $13.4 million contract calls for 20 electric garbage trucks with a range of 60 miles. the trucks will weigh 26 tons and contain 10 battery packs and an electric motor that will power the hydraulics.
The trucks will be provided by a Bay area startup, Motiv Power Systems, which has invested its resources and received grants to develop electric vehicles and retrofit other trucks, buses and fleet delivery vehicles that travel short distances, like garbage trucks. Motiv says their designs can cut operating costs in half over an eight-year period.