The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) unveiled its new all-electric street sweeper on May 6. Produced by Global Environmental Products and US Hybrid, and supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) with technical assistance from CALSTART, the demonstration of this equipment will be tested in an effort to improve the way streets are cleaned on New York’s 19,000 lane-miles of roadway.

DSNY has approximately 450 traditional street sweepers in use across the five boroughs, including 27 hybrid-electric units. A diesel-powered street sweeper travels 7,000 miles per year and is on the road 301 workdays per year. It is estimated the street sweeper will save 89 metric tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 19 cars off the road for one year, over the lifetime of the vehicle.

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. It was produced in partnership between Global Environmental Products, which made the broom itself, and US Hybrid, which produced the electric vehicle components and also manufactured the 27 hybrid-electric brooms that are already a part of DSNY’s fleet.

CALSTART is providing technical support and collecting and analyzing data from the vehicle to ensure this project’s benefits can be measured and its successes can be replicated broadly.