The City of Lights will be home to the first fleet of fully-electric garbage trucks.

Created through a collaboration between Dow Kokam and PVI, the electric fleet will boast an advanced lithium polymer battery system that offers 140 watt hours per kilogram of specific energy and is quoted as having a 10-year lifespan  (Gizmag).

The electric truck and its battery system, which will be produced and assembled in France, were unveiled at Pollutec 2010 by PVI. The companies say that the resulting 26-ton, zero-emission truck will eliminate 130 tons of CO2 per truck per year.

Despite their fully electric systems, the garbage trucks will offer the same performance levels as conventional utility vehicles. PVI designed the electric vehicles to achieve comparable performance to conventional refuse trucks with a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour at full payload, and the added benefit of 100 percent starting torque. Drivers will be able to collect a payload of 16 tons in two rounds of service.

The modular plug-in batteries were also designed to be interchangeable or accommodate a partial recharge between two daily service rounds, thus doubling performance capabilities. Thanks to PVI’s integrated gearbox kinematics, the truck will be able to climb steep inclines with a full payload without impeding urban traffic.

The electric trucks' deployment by SITA Ile de France is expected to be in Courbevoie, just outside of Paris, by early 2011; and a fleet of 11 vehicles will be operating daily before the end of 2011.

[via Gizmag]

Image credits: www.dowkokam.com