Louisville, Colorado, has become the first American city to have a fully electric garbage collection fleet.
City officials recently gathered to celebrate the launch of the Republic Services fleet, which will be used to collect the city's trash, compost, and recyclables while also reducing pollution. As reported by Electrek, this fleet will also reduce noise pollution, and larger windshields will increase drivers' fields of vision, improving safety.
"We are so proud that Louisville will be the first city in the nation with a fully electric collection fleet," Mayor Chris Leh said via news release.
The new fleet includes four McNeilus Volterra ZSLs, which contain 360-degree cameras, automated emergency braking, and audible devices that let other drivers and pedestrians know they are there. These great features ensure increased safety for pedestrians and other road users.
Residents will pay roughly $5 extra per month for these services, per Colorado Public Radio. According to the city's director of public works, Kurt Kowar, Republic Services offered to continue using gas-powered trucks, but the city opted for reduced noise and pollution.
With wider adoption to neighboring communities, Kowar noted those costs could level off. That should come as no surprise — even though EVs are more expensive up front, they're cheaper than gas-powered vehicles in the long run because they have lower maintenance and repair costs and are cheaper to run.
EVs are also much less polluting than gas-powered vehicles. While they do generate more pollution than a gas-powered vehicle during the manufacturing process, they produce much less over the course of their lifetimes because they don't produce any tailpipe emissions. While some will argue that the electricity used to power them is produced using dirty energy, this still results in less pollution than a gas-powered car.
To put this into context, a study by the Department of Energy in 2022 found that, on average, EVs create 2,727 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per year compared to 12,594 for gasoline vehicles. Moving forward, the pollution produced by EVs can only be expected to decrease because of the rise in clean energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
This is great news for our cities, as pollution from vehicles on the road has been shown to contribute to a number of health problems, including asthma, cancer, and mental health problems.
Making your next car an EV could save you lots of money on expensive trips to the gas station and improve your health. Right now, there are several incentives available to help you purchase one for less.
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