HELENA — The City of Helena unveiled its brand new electric street sweeper this Wednesday, a purchase made with the help of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
“Well, it's definitely using Montana-made electricity for the fuel of these vehicles, it’s reducing our emissions that cause these public health problems, and it's also demonstrating that these vehicles can work in Montana,” says Energy Resource Professional with Montana DEQ, Neal Ullman.
The electric sweeper was bought with the help of a $500,000 grant from The Montana DEQ. The money used for the grant was provided to the state of Montana after Volkswagen was forced to pay out billions of dollars after an emissions scandal.
The sweeper, which normally costs $625,000, thus only cost the city $125,000, which is cheaper than the cost of a new diesel street sweeper which usually runs around $350,000. While the sweeper is replacing and decommissioning a diesel street sweeper, the city still owns and utilizes multiple others.
This purchase is in step with a resolution passed by the city commission in 2007, recognizing climate change and the city’s desire to help reduce greenhouse gases.
“And so, this is our department's way of trying to work towards that goal, reducing emissions, and really helping the environment,” says Deputy Director of Transportation Systems, Chris Couey.
The new sweeper will be stored in a heated indoor facility to better ensure the cold doesn’t affect the sweeper. The sweeper can operate for 11 hours on a full charge.
“Hopefully in the future, as technology becomes a little more available and less expensive, we'll be able to add some more of these to the fleet,” says Couey.
