These commercial vehicles are clean in two ways

Steyr Automotive has been established on the international market as a developer and producer of commercial vehicles since 1919. In 2023, the company took over the superstructure business for refuse collection vehicles, road sweepers and cleaning vehicles for drainage systems from MUT. Municipalities are among Steyr's customers and use the fully electric vehicles to clean streets or sewers, for example. The long-lasting and economical vehicles, such as the e-Roto MUT, a vehicle for waste collection with a rotating drum principle, low tare weight and self-cleaning effect, are being developed on the site of the former MAN plant in Steyr. 

‘Our goal is to promote e-mobility in the commercial vehicle sector,’ says Stefan Stanzer, Head of Engineering at Steyr Automotive. ’The change from hydraulic to fully electric systems is important because it allows a significantly higher degree of efficiency to be achieved. An electric system does not run permanently, but only switches on when it is needed. This makes it possible to reduce energy consumption by around 30 per cent compared to hydraulic systems.' 

The climate-friendly and electric operation of auxiliary units in the vehicle is also part of the complete electrification of commercial vehicles. With this in mind, Steyr Automotive has decided to use KEB's modular inverter system T6 APD in its garbage trucks. Philipp Wahlmüller, Key Account & Business Development Manager at KEB, says: ‘The T6 APD enables environmentally friendly and particularly efficient operation of auxiliary units such as air conditioning and air compressors, steering and hydraulic pumps or – as in the case of Steyr – the drive of the rotating drum in the e-Roto-MUT.’ 

The T6 APD is designed as an all-in-one solution for harsh environmental conditions, offers a slim design and works in the vehicle with a high-voltage battery voltage of 200 to 820 volts – the optimum spectrum for operating the drum drive. Another advantage is that the HV cabling and the piping for cooling can be reduced by using the T6. The inverter system was firmly integrated into the architecture of the vehicles during the development process in order to be perfectly integrated with the H3 battery output through individual adjustments. In addition, the T6 in combination with the H3 reduces the internal erosions of the heat sink to a minimum. 

‘Above all, it is important to our customers that the vehicles are reliable, efficient and have low noise emissions when in use. This is one of the reasons why we rely on the T6 APD from KEB in our refuse collection vehicles. In addition, regulations and the associated approvals and certifications are of great importance in the field of e-mobility. KEB was able to meet these, so that we can also ensure the long-term availability of our MUT vehicles,’ says Stanzer. Ultimately, however, it was not only the product that was decisive, but also the fact that in KEB Austria, Steyr had a partner at its side during the integration process, helping to integrate the superstructures into the architecture of the vehicle. Even after commissioning, the employees of Steyr Automotive and KEB are in close contact and are working on further developments.