City Unveils First Electric Trash Truck

New Haven trash, meet the 2024 Battle Motors LET 2 EV.

That’s Connecticut’s first ever electric garbage and recycling truck, which is slated to take to the streets of New Haven starting Wednesday morning.

City officials gathered at the public works headquarters at 34 Middletown Ave. Tuesday morning to celebrate the truck’s environmental and health benefits.

Mayor Justin Elicker opened the press conference by proudly proclaiming that ​“New Haven is green and getting even greener.”

The new electric-powered refuse and recycling truck is the first of its kind in the state, and only second to Boston’s in New England.

The 2024 Battle Motors LET 2 EV, manufactured in Ohio, has an initial price tag of $616,600. State and federal subsidies dropped that purchase price for the City of New Haven to $336,000. Diesel-powered trucks, meanwhile, typically retail for $416,000 apiece.

The city projects an estimated $15,000 dollars in savings on diesel and a minimum of $11,500 in savings on the truck’s physical maintenance. While the average diesel truck demands between $15,000 and $30,000 dollars a year, an electric truck requires $3,500. Multiply that by the new electric truck’s expected 15-year lifespan, officials said, and the savings on diesel and maintenance yield a full return on investment for the city.

In terms of ecological advantage, the truck will save over 65 metric tons of carbon dioxide when compared to its diesel counterpart. ​“This is the equivalent of taking 14 passenger vehicles off the road in terms of the climate pollution,” said city Climate and Sustainability Executive Director Steven Winter.

The truck, which requires neither gas nor oil, uses 400 kilowatts per hour for a battery life of over nine hours. The New Haven Department of Public Works currently possesses a level two charger for the truck, which can charge the truck in six hours, and is in the process of ordering an even faster alternative. According to Elicker, the department also intends to install chargers around the city for on-the-go access.

The truck is set to operate five days a week for five to seven hours a day, with the capacity to run for nine hours if need be.

“This baby behind me, believe it or not, is on right now. You almost can’t hear the vehicle because it is so quiet,” said Elicker.

Transportation is the most recent focus of New Haven’s climate sustainability efforts. The acquisition of the truck arrives on the heels of 45 electric Chevy Bolts, the latest addition to the city’s transportation fleet.

According to Elicker, New Haven currently hosts three megawatts of solar energy, with plans to further expand its solar capacity with the installation of solar panels on a landfill at New Haven’s Landfill/Transfer facility at 260 Middletown Ave. ​“It’s going to be iconic. You’re going to see it from the highway and know that New Haven is a place that supports solar energy.”

Winter spoke to the electric truck’s health benefits. “‘Why go after electrifying a trash truck? Well, heavy duty vehicles, even though they’re only 5 percent of the vehicles on the road in Connecticut, contribute more than half of the smog-forming air pollution — the air pollution that affects people who are suffering from asthma; the air pollution that causes heart disease.”

New Haven, which ranks in the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s 100 ​“Most Challenging Places to Live with Asthma,” is considered Connecticut’s ​“asthma capital.”

“When you see the [diesel vehicles] out in our communities every day, when those hydraulics come on, you’ll see a big puff of city air and that’s… the particulate matter and nitrogen oxide that significantly contributes to asthma and other health related issues,” said Winter.

Winter credited Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) for its support of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), which contributed to New Haven’s eligibility for state grants.

He also thanked New Haven’s Board of Alders for passing a resolution in 2021 that ​“set a really ambitious goal of electrifying [New Haven’s] vehicle fleet by 2030.” The truck is the city’s first electric heavy-duty vehicle.

DEEP Air Program Bureau Chief Tracy Babbage commended the city, saying that the truck’s benefits ​“have real impacts and are really significant in a state like Connecticut, where we struggled and have struggled for over 40 years to attain federal health-based standards for ozone.”

Last summer, DEEP reported 19 days on which the air quality reached unhealthy levels of pollution. This year, the state is on track for 15 days of poor air quality.

“It really is the innovation and commitment to sustainability that sets New Haven apart. This really is a reflection of the direction New Haven is going,” said Babbage.

To conclude, Clean Transportation Communities of Southern CT Program Manager Geremy Schulick named New Haven a Connecticut Clean Communities Leader. ​“This truck is another instance of the city setting a great example for its residents and taking a step towards its climate emergency and community electrification resolutions.”

“For myself and the department, we’re very excited to have this electric vehicle here. The staff is anxious to put it to work and put it to use,” said Department of Public Works Director Michael Siciliano. ​“I know they’re even happier that they don’t have to check the oil every morning. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.”