Evergreen Waste Acquires Mack LR Electric Refuse Trucks, Plans Vehicle-To-Grid Operation
Evergreen Waste Services of Hockessin, Delaware, recently purchased five Mack LR Electric refuse trucks with McNeilus 25-yard rear-loader bodies. These trucks are the first fully electric Class 8 refuse vehicles to operate in Delaware. The LR Electric trucks join Evergreen Waste’s fleet of 50 trucks.
The waste disposal company will charge the battery-electric vehicles during off-peak hours using bidirectional charging and plans to offload excess power to the grid during peak hours. The LR Electrics will operate in residential New Castle County, where they will make 600 pickups and log 40 miles each day.
Giving Back To The Grid
“The LR Electric purchase will be a home run if the vehicle can handle 600 stops and go back to the yard because it significantly allows us to save money on diesel and maintenance needs,” says Evergreen Waste Services CEO Marcus Stevens. “It will be a grand slam if we discharge energy back to the grid and receive a credit back. That makes this really attractive.”
Evergreen Waste installed two charging stations at its depot and plans to install three more so that all five LR Electrics can charge simultaneously.
“We are one of the first to do vehicle-to-grid,” Stevens says. “We will bring the LR Electric back to our site with about 40% less battery life than when it left. We will then send power back to the grid during peak hours, and then we will charge the vehicle during the off-peak hours of 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. The vehicle will be fully charged and ready to go by 5 a.m.”
Mack LR Electric Particulars
The LR Electric has a standard battery capacity of 376 kilowatt-hours and twin electric motors that produce 448 continuous horsepower (334 kilowatts) and 4,051 pounds-foot (5,492 newton-meters) of peak torque from zero rpm.
The four nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) lithium-ion batteries are charged through a 150-kW SAE J1772-compliant charging system. The batteries power the vehicle and onboard accessories via 12-, 24-, and 600-volt circuits. Battery charge is extended through the 2-stage regenerative braking system, which recaptures energy during the hundreds of stops the truck makes on its route with an increasing load.
Source: Mack Trucks