Emterra Environmental is reporting positive early results from its Ontario electric waste collection vehicle pilot, which launched in December 2023.

Running in Brampton and Mississauga, Ont. for a planned 2.5-year pilot period, the project is a collaboration with the Region of Peel, where Emterra owns and operates the truck and charging infrastructure. Smart Freight Centre analyzes the resulting data.

The electric truck has been “running reliably” and collects garbage, recycling and organics from about 1,000 households a day, Cynthia Lucar Diaz, Peel Region’s acting manager of waste planning, said during the sixth Smart Freight symposium on sustainable transportation.

Shifts and capacity

The truck has been able to complete 10-hour shifts without requiring mid-day charging, typically starting the day with a 99% charge and finishing with about 14% remaining. Typically, the truck would stop operation when the charge rate drops to 10%, which means 10-hour shift uses the truck’s full capacity, said Naweed Malik, Emterra’s operations manager.

Fully charging the truck takes approximately 4.5 hours, and overnight charging has not disrupted day-to-day operations.

With a collection capacity of up to 23 tonnes per day, the truck handles heavier loads, such as garbage, more efficiently than recycling and organic waste that needs to be compacted more frequently.

The truck’s capacity is about 20% lower than that of a comparable compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle because of the size and weight of its 376 kWh battery. However, quieter operation and reduced in-cab vibration have been well-received by residents and drivers, Lucar Diaz added.

Downtime, regenerative braking, utilization

The pilot faced several challenges early on, including procurement delays and pre-delivery inspection issues, Malik said. He added that other initial challenges included data integration, effective use of regenerative braking, and overall familiarity with in-cab readings and equipment.

Nonetheless, the challenges were addressed by adaptation practices and OEM support. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, Emterra reported only 29 days of downtime. None of those occurred between August and October. January and July each saw a day of downtime, while three days were lost in May. Most of the downtime occurred earlier in the year. The truck was not operating for eight days in February, March and April, representing 24 days out of operation over three months. 

Drivers also faced a learning curve, particularly with the regenerative braking system. “At first, it was a struggle to keep the EV truck on the road for more than six to seven hours, and this was caused by a few issues once. One was lack of sufficient driver training and knowledge of the vehicle’s regenerative braking system and what it’s actually capable of,” Malik said. “Mack was brought in for a training session with our drivers to assist on how to efficiently use the braking system to its most potential.”

He went on to explain that after providing additional driver training on how to effectively use the regenerative braking system, they were able to extend the truck’s daily operating hours from six to seven hours up to 10-12 hours. The regenerative braking system allowed the drivers to recover energy during braking and add up to 20% additional charge to the battery throughout the day. This helped address the initial challenge of the truck not being able to complete a full day’s work on a single charge.

“We’ve learned that highway driving significantly drains the battery,” Malik said. “Changes to routes were made to significantly reduce highway driving [and] to increase street driving as a result, which activates the regenerative braking system to perform to its full capabilities.”

The quieter and smoother operation of the electric truck has drawn interest from other municipalities exploring similar initiatives. The pilot has also reduced maintenance requirements compared to CNG vehicles, with fewer routine tasks such as oil and filter changes.

Next steps

The next phase of the pilot will assess the truck’s performance during different seasons, evaluate the impact on infrastructure, grid demands, and gather data on actual greenhouse gas emissions. This will help determine the pilot’s long-term viability and scalability.

“We still have some questions that we’d like to get answers to,” Lucar Diaz said. “We want to know what the real impact this is having on the environment… This is big one for us. This is the entire reason why we embarked on this journey.”