Our Electric Trucks

The electric trucks are named Trash Gordon and Vin No Diesel.

On this page you will find:

A breakdown of election results
Photos of the trucks
Why the trucks are important

To name the trucks, we took name suggestions from the public in September 2024. We received 792 unique name suggestions (not counting duplicates). We picked finalists from this list of names and set up a ranked choice election with the help of Wisconsin Clean Cities. The election was held in the first few weeks of October 2024, ending on October 21, 2024.

You can see the results for the election here. This is the RankedVote website that was used for the election.

Following that link will show you a round-by-round breakdown of how the voting occurred and how these two names prevailed.

If you prefer a spreadsheet version of the results instead of the link above, we also have a PDF of the election results with a round-by-round count of the votes

Why the Electric Trucks Matter

These two heavy-duty trucks are part of the broader Climate Forward Agenda of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway as we work to find alternative fuels for our city operations.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 23% of the transportation’s sector’s greenhouse gas emissions come from heavy duty trucks like trash collection trucks.

On average, a collection vehicle used by the Streets Division uses approximately 17 gallons of diesel a day. Each gallon of diesel is equivalent to 22.45 pounds of C02 emitted. Over the course of a year, the carbon savings from one electric truck is equivalent to the energy use of six homes.

Electric vehicles will also save on maintenance as the motor requires less attention and lubricants than an internal combustion engine.

The collection truck is also significantly quieter than the standard diesel-powered truck. While emptying a cart will always cause a ruckus, the truck itself is whisper quiet compared to its noisier diesel brethren.