All-electric garbage trucks are coming, BYD unveils a 3.9-ton truck with 100 miles of electric range

Battery-powered garbage truck. That’s BYD’s, the Chinese electric automaker with an electric bus and truck division in the US, latest product. We are talking about a 3.9-ton battery-powered truck capable of traveling 100 miles on electric range. That’s something.

They unveiled the vehicle (pictured above) in Phoenix today.

Other companies are also developing electric refuse trucks. The most well-known is Wrightspeed, which was founded by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, but the company is actually manufacturing range-extended electric refuse trucks.

BYD’s new vehicle is all-electric, according to the company.

Electric waste management trucks make a lot sense. Of course, it reduces tailpipe emission, but it also significantly reduces noise pollution. Additionally, they do a lot of braking and therefore, a regenerative braking system can be put to good use.

The company wrote about the benefits in a press release for the announcement:

“Both private haulers and municipal fleets will enjoy numerous benefits of this groundbreaking equipment. In addition to zero tailpipe emissions and greatly reduced noise pollution, the operating costs are substantially less due to savings from diesel fuel, fewer moving parts, and regenerative braking.”

The electric powertrain was developed by BYD America, but the company worked with Wayne Engineering for the features related to waste management.

Kevin Watje, CEO of Wayne Engineering, said about the announcement:

“We’ve been proud to design and manufacture innovative equipment for the waste management sector for half a century, and are thrilled to be a partner with BYD for this huge step into the future. Refuse trucks are a part of every community in the country, and these all-electric trucks will start making a difference right away.”

President of BYD America, Stella Li, boasted about the all-electric system of the new vehicle compared to other range-extended solutions by competitors:

“Only 10% of refuse trucks use any alternative fuel at all, pumping our neighborhoods full of expensive and dangerous diesel fumes – or worse, PM2.5 from CNG engines. Many are particularly bad on greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter, harming the health of those around them. This new 3.9 ton truck, which gets 100 miles of charge in just 2.5 hours, is the chance to finally make cleaning our neighborhoods a clean prospect in and of itself.”

The company didn’t disclose the details of its electric powertrain, but for reference, BYD equipped its class 8 electric truck with a 188 kWh battery pack.

Li claims that aside from the environmental benefits, the new truck will also provide “58% reduction in operating costs per mile”. There’s no word on when the truck will hit production. We asked BYD for more details and we will update if we get anything.