The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will put into operation a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) built by Mack Trucks in 2020. The vehicle is an LR model refuse truck. The announcement was made on May 8, 2019, at Waste Expo in Las Vegas.
The Mack LR BEV is powered by Mack’s integrated electric powertrain consisting of two 130-kW motors producing a combined 496 peak horsepower and 4,051 pound-feet of torque available from zero RPM. Power is sent through a two-speed Mack Powershift transmission. The vehicle includes Mack S522R 52,000-pound (capacity) rear axles.
“The Mack LR BEV is the latest example of Mack’s leadership within the refuse and recycling industry,” said Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks senior vice president of North American sales and marketing. “Built on our decades of experience in powertrain innovation, the electric LR delivers a powerful yet quiet zero-emission solution designed to tackle one of the most demanding applications in one of the largest cities in the world.”
All of the vehicle’s accessories, including the hydraulic systems for the Heil DuraPack 5000 body, are electrically driven through 12-volt (V), 24V and 600V circuits. Four NMC lithium-ion batteries (Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) are charged via a 150kW, SAE J1772-compliant charging system.
New York’s sanitation department is the world’s largest and frequently trials alternative powertrain vehicles. There are over 2,100 refuse trucks in its fleet.
“New York City, and DSNY in particular, is a world leader when it comes to testing the latest technologies to help us reduce our environmental footprint,” said New York City DSNY Deputy Commissioner Rocky DiRico. “We’re proud to be the first Mack customer to test this exciting new technology, and we look forward to continuing to work with Mack throughout this project.”
The sanitation department’s light-duty fleet of over 1,000 vehicles is almost entirely comprised of hybrid-electric models, which is part of New York City’s overall effort to use the most fuel-efficient, lowest-emission vehicles possible. The city’s Parks Department leads the way with over 74 percent of its vehicle fleet of more than 2,200 vehicles running on alternative energy.
Mack noted that refuse and recycling operations are ideal for electric vehicles because of the set routes, return to home base nature of the application, and frequent starts and stops of the vehicles, which increase regenerative braking opportunities to capture energy.
