The City of Eugene has taken the next step towards a sustainable future with its first piece of all-electric heavy machinery. The City recently purchased its first all-electric street sweeper. This battery-operated, zero-emissions “broom” will reduce the City’s greenhouse gas impact and is another step towards reaching the City’s Climate Recovery Ordinance goals.
“We’re excited to put this new street sweeper into the fleet,” said Eric Johnson, Public Works Maintenance Operations Manager. “Not only will it continue to ensure clean water returns to our rivers by picking up toxic pollutants before they go into our storm drains, this electric sweeper runs on clean electric energy supplied by our partners at EWEB – significantly reducing our greenhouse gas impact.”
The sweeper, which cost about $570,000, will contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing carbon dioxide by 115 tons, per a typical sweeper’s lifetime – around seven years. In considering the purchase, staff determined there were several benefits to purchasing an electric sweeper:
- Powered by a renewable resource
- Reduced external and internal noise pollution
- Reduced service time and maintenance cost
- Enhanced downtown, Riverfront livability by minimizing noise disturbance
- Generation of carbon credits
- Contribution towards the City’s Climate Action Goals
The Public Works Department has been using seven diesel-powered street sweepers to sweep more than 40,000 curb miles of streets each year. When one of these sweepers requires repairs, it may be out-of-commission because of emission system malfunctions. This downtime can range from one day to a month depending on the issue and need to receive the new parts. The all-electric sweeper is expected to have a substantially smaller repair time.
The new street sweeper features one 120-kW traction motor and NMC lithium-ion batteries (Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) that are charged via an AC 20kW, SAE J1772-compliant charging system.
For video of the new electric sweeper and pre-recorded soundbites, utilize a private Vimeo link at vimeo.com/631328585/ea1bb8e05c. Eric Johnson, the person featured in the video clip, is the Surface Operations Manager at Public Works Maintenance.