“Maintenance nightmare.” “We’re
garbage guys. We’re inherently dirty, but we’re problem solvers. We don’t want
to be polluters,” Ratto told me.
That’s how Lou Ratto, chief
operating officer of a waste and recycling company in Sonoma County, Calif.,
describes the challenge of keeping his garbage trucks compliant with the state’s
air quality standards. He’s since found what could prove to be an economical and
eco-friendly solution to his problems. In August the Ratto Group will receive a
garbage truck with a battery-powered
electric motor, and a turbine generator that will extend the truck’s driving
range. Traditional garbage trucks get awful gas mileage, but putting electric
motors in them has proved challenging given concerns over the range of the
batteries.
He’s seen maintenance costs for his
older trucks rise 30 percent as he pays to clean the filters now required for
the diesel engines. So a couple years ago he began exploring alternatives to
diesel-powered trucks. Ratto looked at natural-gas options and hydraulic
propulsion systems, but concluded they were either too expensive or didn’t fit
the demands of his business.
Ratto has signed a contract with
Wrightspeed to outfit 17 trucks of his trucks with its electric powertrains,
which include its new turbine generator, called the Fulcrum. The turbine can run
on fuels ranging from diesel to natural gas to propane and kerosene. Ratto will
use diesel.
If things go well with the first
truck this summer, Ratto will receive three more shortly thereafter.
“When this works I will have
significant savings. How much, I’m not sure,” Ratto said. “I’m dying to find
out.” FedEx has pilot-tested the technology and placed 25 orders for its
fleet.
Wrightspeed chief executive Ian
Wright believes we’re at a turning point where turbine engines take hold of the
market for land vehicles. The turbine charges the battery, which then powers the
wheels. This is a crucial distinction, as using turbines in vehicles has
traditionally been unappealing because turbines are so inefficient at low
speeds. Since the turbine is charging the battery and not powering the wheels at
idle, there’s no problem.
“Nobody had all the technology
pieces lined up to make that work until now,” said Wright, who previously
co-founded Tesla Motors. “There hasn’t been a turbine-generator engine until now
that sort of got over the tipping point in terms of cost and efficiency, power
to weight, multi-fuel.”
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