Dubai Municipality has introduced its first fully electric heavy vehicle dedicated to collecting and transporting general waste, according to official municipal announcements. The initiative is intended to modernise the municipal vehicle fleet, lower operational emissions, and raise the efficiency of urban cleaning operations across the emirate.
The vehicle offers a total waste storage volume of 19 cubic metres and can carry up to 11 tonnes of compressed waste. It is engineered to handle multiple container sizes, including 1.1-cubic-metre, 360-litre, 240-litre, and 120-litre bins. An integrated electric compactor accommodates both centralised community bin collection and door-to-door residential pickup services, supported by on-board weighing systems that record waste quantities as bins are emptied.
Power is provided by three high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries with a combined weight of approximately 2.2 tonnes, giving the vehicle an operating range of 100 to 150 kilometres per charge. Utilizing fast-charging technology, the vehicle can replenish battery levels from 20% to 80% in one hour and 45 minutes using a 160 kW charging unit, enabling continuous deployment across municipal shift schedules.
To enhance occupational safety, the vehicle is equipped with smart monitoring cameras that provide continuous observation of operational processes and surrounding road environments. Saeed Safar, Director of the Waste Operations Department at Dubai Municipality, noted that deploying electric vehicles is a practical step toward adopting clean technologies and supporting a circular economy. The deployment supports the Dubai Integrated Waste Management Strategy 2041, which aims to cut waste generation by 18% and divert 100% of municipal waste from landfills by 2041.
Sources
- Emirates 24|7 · 2026-11-08
