Motiv Power Systems to Deploy Two All-Electric Garbage Trucks in L.A.

Motiv Power Systems is deploying two zero-emissions, Class-8 ERV refuse trucks in the City of Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2018. The trucks, which will be built by Amrep, Inc. in L.A., will feature an automated side-loader body and will use the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain to drive a Crane Carrier chassis.

“Fossil-fueled garbage trucks emit about 20 times the carbon of the average U.S. home,” said Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz in a statement. “They achieve just two to three miles per gallon and stick to standard routes, making them ideal electrification targets for L.A.’s sustainability program. 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.”

L.A. 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. Upon delivery, the L.A. ERVs bring the all-electric refuse trucks powered by Motiv to a total of three in California and four within North America.

The implementation of these trucks goes hand-in-hand with the city’s goal to meet an 80 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by 2050. Motiv’s scalable All-Electric Powertrain is capable of helping public works and city service vehicles contribute to GHG reductions by significantly reducing diesel emissions from a wide variety of vehicles.

Rather than having customized vehicles provided by a variety of vendors, 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, reducing the cost of spare parts and training. This enables cities like L.A. to expand their carbon reduction efforts through electrification of work trucks, transit buses and other diesel vehicles without placing a heavy maintenance burden on their public works departments.

Similar to Motiv-powered electric refuse trucks on the road in Sacramento, the Los Angeles trucks will have a payload capacity of 9 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 easily reach full charge overnight.