Municipal services and Waste disposal

Quietly through Stuttgart

Steep climbs, narrow streets, heavy traffic: Stuttgart puts its waste collection to the test. The first five of ten battery-electric eEconic are now on the road for Abfallwirtschaft Stuttgart — quiet, CO₂e-free in operation and backed by a depot designed for electromobility.

Starting signal in Wangen.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks hands over the first five of ten eEconic to Abfallwirtschaft Stuttgart.

Waste collection in Stuttgart is precision work. Part of this work is now battery-electric: Mercedes-Benz Trucks has handed over the first five of ten eEconic to Stuttgart Waste Management (AWS). Each vehicle carries a FAUN Variopress rear loader with 21 m³ capacity and a FAUN Skylift bin lift.
In parallel, AWS has procured ten diesel-powered Econic.

Visitors celebrate the opening of the new AWS operational site.

The vehicles were handed over at the opening of the new depot in Stuttgart-Wangen. The AWS also invited the neighbourhood: anyone who wanted could explore the site and get a behind-the-scenes look at the municipal waste disposal.

Electricity from your own roof

The site was planned from the outset for the use of electrically powered vehicles: nine ceiling-mounted charging units for trucks, several charging points for cars and two fast-charging points. Part of the electricity is supplied by the building's roof, which is home to one of the largest photovoltaic installations on an urban building in Stuttgart.

“The electrically powered refuse collection vehicles are a quantum leap for Stuttgart.”

Markus Töpfer, Managing Director, Stuttgart Waste Management

Technology that takes the strain off.

The eEconic 300 has been produced in series at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth am Rhein since 2022. Three battery packs of 112 kWh installed and around 97 kWh usable capacity each cover typical collection routes in single-shift operation – completely without intermediate charging.¹

The proven low‑floor concept lowers the entry height significantly, which pays off on every tour. The ability to board and alight on the side away from traffic is particularly practical given the frequent stops in refuse collection operations. The deeply raked panoramic windscreen gives a clear view of the immediate surroundings and thus enables eye contact with other road users.

And then there is the quiet. Without the noise of a diesel engine, communication in the cab is easier and the strain over an entire shift is reduced. Residents notice the difference too – especially on routes in the early morning hours. Markus Töpfer highlights this point: despite the challenging topography of the Stuttgart basin, the vehicles have proven themselves and have improved employees' working conditions.

Orange Mercedes-Benz eEconic refuse collection vehicles under the covered forecourt of the new AWS depot in Stuttgart-Wangen.

For Christian Wilz, Chairman of the Management Board of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Germany, the handover is above all a shared milestone: it represents CO₂e-free, low-noise collection vehicles in operation in urban environments — supported by a long-standing collaboration and the goal of bringing solutions for the material recycling loop into practice.

¹ The stated range is provisional and was determined using an internal simulation tool assuming optimal conditions, including 3 new battery packs after preconditioning in a partially charged state in inner-city refuse collection operations (VECTO Municipal Cycle up to 100 km) or in mixed refuse collection operations (combined VECTO Municipal Cycle, VECTO Regional Delivery and VECTO Urban Delivery Cycle up to 150 km) at an ambient temperature of 20 °C, and may differ from the values determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400. The actual range depends, among other things, to a large extent on driving behaviour, the application profile and the type of body.

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