Australia’s first operational electric waste collection truck features at Waste Expo Australia in Melbourne on October 3 and 4.
The joint project between waste body equipment manufacturer Superior Pak and Australian electric drivetrain maker SEA Electric will see the Iveco ACCO truck enter full service shortly after the expo with WM Waste Management Services.
The ACCO EV is available to order directly from Superior Pak which has the exclusive distributorship for the vehicle within the Australian waste industry.
Powering the truck is a SEA-Drive 180 electric driveline featuring 220kWh NMC batteries, which provides the vehicle with a 250km range at full gross vehicle mass (up to 23.5 tonnes) along with a limited 100km/h top speed.
The vehicle features a 22kW on-board charger allowing the truck to be plugged-in and charged from any three-phase power source from flat to full in about eight hours.
Battery longevity is also impressive and calculated at 3500 charge cycles, giving it a more than 10-year life based on a single charge, five days a week. The remainder of the driveline is virtually maintenance-free.
The Waste Expo display vehicle is a special order featuring a two-in-one body incorporating an industrial cage with electric ramp for picking up white goods and similar heavy items. At the rear is a more traditional compactor body which will be used on a hard waste collection with the City of Casey in Melbourne.
The main catalyst to implement a local EV program was due to the success of a similar project in New Zealand, along with an increased interest in Australia for electric commercial vehicles, Superior Pak managing director Rob Wrigley says.
“We’ve had a similar electric powered collection vehicle operating in New Zealand for some time now, and the owners are very pleased with the performance,” he says.
“The payback on the vehicle is attractive, as are the low operating costs and lower total cost of ownership.
“So when the idea came to develop a vehicle for Australia we again looked at the Iveco ACCO platform.
“Being locally manufactured was another consideration for us in using the ACCO, as the build process was more streamlined and we could also offer the market a complete, Australian designed and built, turn-key solution,” Wrigley says.
SEA Electric Group managing director Tony Fairweather says refuse collection is an ideal application for electric trucks.
“These vehicles normally operate on known fixed routes where their travel range can be managed,” he says.
“The work is also ‘back to base’ in nature, meaning that at the end of a route, the vehicle has completed the job and can then be fully charged before the next working day.
“Although the ACCO EV commands a purchase premium, payback can be achieved in as little as four years,” Fairweather says.
The electric truck will be at Superior Pak’s stand in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
