NIKOLA REFUSE TRUCK

Nikola has developed a battery-electric refuse collection truck for Republic services.

- Deven Lad

There is no doubt that electrification in CVs --trucks, buses, vans, etc., would happen in those that do urban duties first and foremost. Others will follow at a distance. As CV makers work towards realising this, many new entrants are trying their hand at building CVs using electrical and electronics sans any legacy. One such company is Nikola. It has been trying its hand at building electric and hydrogen-powered CVs for a little while now -- a year or two perhaps and has come to develop a refuse collection electric truck for the Arizona-based Republic Services. Scheduled to go into service with Republic by 2023, the refuse collection e-truck is a zero-emission machine and designed to be built in good quantities.

To provide as many as 5,000 trucks to Republic, the refuse collection e-truck employs Nikola’s Tre electric drivetrain. With no less than 2500 e-refuse collection trucks to be delivered by 2023, the vehicle prototypes are being tested at present and paint a promising image of how a typical truck of this type would be in the future. Sharing the powertrain, chassis and electronic axle with the battery-electric semi truck Nikola Tre, the e-refuse collection truck, according to Trevor Milton, Founder and Executive Chairman, Nikola, is working to ship prototypes for on-road testing to Republic by 2021 end.“We are specialised in heavy-duty, zero-emission Class 8 trucks and the refuse market is one of the most stable markets which provides long-term shareholder value”, he added.