Volvo Trucks has joined the short list of automakers to introduce an EV bigger than a consumer car, but the Swedish company’s new vehicle is special: It’s a garbage truck. The Volvo FE Electric is built to haul up to 27 tonnes of cargo across urban environments, and like all electric vehicles, it should be far quieter than the diesel beasts it aims to replace.
The garbage truck appears similar to (and possibly shares design elements with) the FL Electric that Volvo Trucks announced last month, though the latter only hauls up to 16 tonnes. It makes sense for the company to propose an EV for an essential purpose that would cut down on sound and emissions around homes. The 200 km (124 mile) range isn’t nearly as far as the Tesla Semi’s 500-mile limit, but plenty of electric trucks built for city use like Mitsubishi’s have a similarly modest maximum distance before needing to recharge. But as battery technology continues to improve, these ranges could be expanded in the future. The Volvo Electric FE will start selling in Europe in 2019.
This article originally appeared on Engadget.
