Autocar begins field-testing electric cabover refuse trucks

Autocar, a manufacturer of specialized severe-duty vocational trucks, has built two alpha refuse trucks featuring an all-electric powertrain. The company is now putting two E-ACX electric cabover refuse trucks through a validation testing process to ensure that they’re just as tough as the company’s existing diesel and CNG trucks.

The two E-ACX-64 alpha units are equipped with automated side loaders from Autocar body partners Heil and New Way. The alpha1 unit features the Heil Command SST, and the alpha2 unit features the New Way Sidewinder 3.0.

Autocar is partnering with select customers to verify performance metrics and receive operator input under real work conditions. Refuse trucks have difficult duty cycles—Autocar explains that they are “subject to all types of climates coast to coast, cycling through thousands of stops and starts a day, in and out of landfills and transfer stations, that put even the best-engineered trucks out of service.”

“We are excited to continue our role as a leader in green innovation for refuse and other vocations with the development of the E-ACX platform. Our process at Autocar is to design trucks that exceed the standards of our customers, so we are excited to begin testing an all-electric ACX that highlights our engineers’ and technicians’ hard work, and input from customers,” said Timothy Thornton, VP and General Manager Refuse at Autocar. “The E-ACTT team that developed our all-electric terminal tractor gets a lot of credit for leading the BEV development and bringing this technology to severe-duty standards.”