Electric garbage truck trial underway in Shepparton as former garbo lauds its quiet 'luxury'

Foott Waste Solutions is trialling the use of a EV garbage truck in regional Australia. (ABC News: Georgina Carroll)

From behind the wheel of his shiny blue garbage truck, Peter Foott slinks down Shepparton’s streets without a sound.

Instead of incidentally waking the town’s residents with the rumbling of a diesel truck engine, Mr Foott sneaks around town, whisper quiet.

The reason? He’s behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV).

“It’s like a luxury garbage truck … nearly a limousine,” Mr Foott said.

And he should know. Mr Foott’s a former “garbo” turned director of Foott Waste Collection.

He has put himself back behind the wheel of the whisper-quiet waste wagon, driving the new truck throughout a month-long trial in the regional Victorian town.

“It is really comfortable and so quiet, and the movability of it around a town like Shepparton has been amazing,” Mr Foott said.

The truck in question is a Volvo EV rear loader, which has already been trialled in Canberra and the Sunshine Coast.

Foott chief executive Andrew Yeoland said the quiet nature of the truck was a big drawcard for the company.

“It’s amazing when you’re sitting in the truck and driving down the street. It is just so quiet,” Mr Yeoland told ABC Victorian Mornings.

“For residents and for those around who have heard the trucks humming, I think this is a huge advantage.”

Can it be done?

Jake Whitehead is chief scientist at the Electric Vehicle Council.

He said EV take-up in the commercial market in Australia had been “pretty modest”, with less than 100 regularly in use Down Under.

“This is a transition that’s not going to happen overnight but, because these vehicles last for a relatively long time, it’s important we start chipping away at that and making that transition today,” Dr Whitehead said.

Dr Whitehead said EV use in commercial industries was more advanced overseas, with Copenhagen aiming to have a completely electric rubbish truck fleet by the end of next year.

For that to happen in Australia, Dr Whitehead said the federal government would need to get on board with things like interest-free loans to make the vehicles more affordable.

“We’re not at a stage yet where the vehicles are cheap enough that it will naturally happen,” he said.

“If we want it to happen, we’ve got to have that policy support to accelerate the process.”

Victorian Transport Association CEO Peter Anderson said the industry was onboard with any move to alternative fuels.

He warned that it would take time, and financial assistance, to happen.

“The industry’s very keen to get onboard and get the process moving faster than it is,” Mr Anderson said.

“We’re not arguing climate change. What we need is a transition pathway for the industry to be able to take on the new concepts for energy and propulsion of trucks,” he said.

Higher costs a hurdle to overcome

Mr Anderson said the biggest hurdle was cost, with an alternative fuel prime mover costing about two-and-a-half times more.

“A transport business is a business, and the social conscience ends when the business goes broke,” he said.

“It isn’t just about what we should do for the goodness of mankind.

“I’m sorry, but when I go to the bank manager at the end of the month, he doesn’t take my bucket of love for payment for the mortgage. He takes cold hard cash and, if I don’t have it, he takes my house.”

Mr Anderson said no one knew when the trucking industry and associated infrastructure would be ready to change to alternative fuel.

But he warned the future might look different, not only to customers but to consumers as well.

“We all want our things delivered to us in the right way at the right time … but in the future it may be a little bit different,” Mr Anderson said.

“That’s the unknown for us right now because the bottom line is transitioning to alternative fuels will cost more.”

Where to next

The team at Foott Waste Solutions said the trial was going well.

“We want to make sure that the truck functions the same way a normal garbage truck should function and so far the results have been very, very positive,” Mr Yeoland said.

“It may be a stepping stone for us to put the whole fleet in and around electric in the future. That’s the vision and what we’d like to look at from a longer term perspective.”

Whether EVs could replace the company’s diesel trucks will be determined following further analysis of the trial.

Dr Whitehead conceded electric garbage trucks may not be appropriate in all regional settings, but said the Shepparton trial was a positive step.

“It’s not going to work for every single application out there. You have to go through a process of working out where the routes that do make sense,” he said.

“But there are certainly many applications or many options in both regional and urban Australia where electric garbage trucks make sense today.

“This is the transition that’s going to take place over the next 15 years or so.”

The Australian Trucking Association did not respond to the ABC’s request for an interview.