Hungary is developing electric garbage trucks

A project to convert lorries, garbage trucks and trailers from diesel to electric power using a technical solution developed by a Hungarian company is attracting a great deal of interest throughout Europe.

In 2010, a call for tenders was published for electrically powered garbage trucks. Prior to that, development had started at the University of Debrecen, where racing cars were started to be powered by electric motors. During the call for proposals, it was suggested that the process, which had previously only been used in the case of smaller vehicles, could be tested on larger vehicles. Four years later, in 2014, the solution was patented. This patent was purchased by Electromega Ltd.

“Electromega Ltd. was established in 2009 with the purpose of utilizing its expertise in electric drive in the research and development of the electric drive of commercial vehicles,” writes their official page.

Hungarian-developed electric garbage trucks are produced

Photo: Facebook/Electromega Kft.

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The challenges and solutions of garbage trucks

Compared to standard internal combustion engines, this change offers one of the biggest energy savings, which translates into cost savings on the operational side, wrote napi.hu. For garbage trucks, this change means that torque is immediately available for frequent starts, and energy is fed back into the batteries during braking.

“Thanks to the generator, the battery is recharged when the brakes are applied, which is particularly beneficial for a refuse truck because it is energy efficient, stopping 600 to 700 times every few metres during a shift,” Ruben Bántó, managing director of the company told Budapest Business Development Centre explained.

“We got the first parts for the first garbage truck at the end of 2015, and in spring 2016 we presented the prototype in Budapest.”

According to the director, the highest cost is the battery, and the biggest challenge in electromobility is range. Other competing companies, for example, have already presented vehicles designed for a range of thousands of kilometres at a much higher cost. They had to find the middle between the feasible range and the affordable price.

The electric-powered tractor-trailer is already completed. You can learn more about the electric heavy-duty vehicles on the company’s website. Its charging time is 12 hours (400V/32A) from a 10 percent charge level and 6 hours (400V/64A) for lightning charging. The vehicle has a range of 150 km.

Hungarian-developed electric garbage trucks are produced1

Photo: Facebook/Electromega Kft.

In 2015, a team of development engineers ran the new prototype for more than 15,000 kilometres without significant failure. In 2016, the company’s second electric garbage truck performed twice as well as the year before, operating more efficiently and meeting legal and transport authority requirements. And in March 2021, they handed over four electric garbage trucks in Debrecen. In October 2020, the company handed over the country’s first fully electric 40-tonne truck to Innovativ Special Transport Ltd., which performs logistics tasks at Audi’s Győr factory.