Nation’s first all-electric street sweeper comes to Los Angeles
Los Angeles city officials on Thursday, Aug. 10, unveiled the city’s first all-electric street sweeper, putting the city one step closer to reaching its goal of transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2035.
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who serves on the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee, unveiled the city’s latest green vehicle at the West Valley Municipal Center in Reseda. As chair of the council’s Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee, Blumenfield has also been working with various departments to electrify the city’s fleet.
He said in an interview afterward that L.A. is the first in the nation to acquire a 100% electric street sweeper.
“Today was a big step” forward, Blumenfield said. “Other cities hopefully will be getting this next year. We’re going to be using this one, testing it out. The price will come down on it, I’m sure, by next year, and then we’ll probably buy a few more, and a few more.”
The all-electric street sweeper cost a bit over $800,000 — almost double the cost of a conventional gas-fueled street sweeper, Blumenfield said. But he anticipates some savings in terms of fuel purchases and less expensive maintenance.
The purchase of the all-electric street sweeper is the latest in the city’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Last year, the city rolled out a pair of hybrid-electric street sweepers.
The City Council in 2021 adopted the LA100 plan with the stated goal of transitioning fully to clean energy by 2035 – 10 years ahead of what had previously been scheduled.
The council also approved an Electric Vehicle Master Plan in spring 2022, instructing city departments to eventually swap out the 10,000-plus city-owned vehicles for carbon-neutral ones. At the time, the city’s fleet consisted of 124 electric sedans, 46 plug-in electric hybrids and two hybrid electric street sweepers.
