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Tesla co-founder unveils electric garbage truck
The global transition from combustion engine to all-electric vehicle continues to move into new sectors as Wrightspeed has just released its first fleet of range-extended electric refuse trucks. The powertrain represents a new era in vehicle propulsion, repowering a generation of lighter, quieter, and more efficient vehicle fleets for urban streets.
Wrightspeed’s commercial application of the range-extended, turbine-electric powertrain is the heavy-duty Class 8 Freightliner, which will be delivered to The Ratto Group, a Sonoma County solid waste collection and recycling business. The Class 8 Freightliner is the first of at least fifteen electric vehicles that will be integrated into the trash company’s fleet over the next year, according to Tim Dummer, Wrightspeed’s chief business officer. Dummer, an engineering and commercialization executive, was brought into Wrightspeed in October, 2016 as part of the company’s ramp-up of its Range-extended Electric Vehicle (REV) powertrain systems.
Called The Route™, Wrightspeed’s REV powertrain is optimized for the refuse industry and can be customized to fit a variety of today’s heavy-duty truck platforms, replacing both the engine and the transmission. Much of the growing demand for the award-winning The Route is due to Wrightspeed’s founder, Ian Wright, one of the original co-founders of Tesla Motors. After his departure from Tesla Motors in 2003, Wright had a vision that electric vehicles could deliver high-performance without compromising intrinsic efficiency. Using turbines and applying electric vehicle principles to urban, heavy-duty trucks, The Route powertrain was the result.
The Wrightspeed system can power a 66,000-pound GVW truck, delivering up to 24 miles on battery power before the range extender kicks in. After that, range is nearly unlimited as long as there is fuel for the turbine. With fuel efficiency the equivalent of up to 7 mpg in combined electricity-liquid fuel operation, the powertrain can slash annual fuel consumption by 70 percent or more compared with the average diesel refuse truck. CEO Lou Ratto says he expects a fuel savings of at least 50 percent.
Eventually, all of Ratto’s 130 residential trash and recycling trucks may be retrofitted with the turbine-electric powertrain. This is an ambitious undertaking, as a refuse truck’s demanding duty cycle drains an electric powertrain’s batteries quickly. Think start, then stop. Start, stop. Wrightspeed’s electric powertrain drives more low-end torque to the wheels than conventional diesel engines, with less fuel, emissions, and noise.
Wrightspeed, in a sense, is recycling Ratto’s trash collection trucks. The Wrightspeed/ Ratto contract is thought to be in the range of $3 million to $5 million.
A new refuse truck that meets all California air quality standards costs more than $500,000, so Wrightspeed’s retrofit of Ratto’s existing trucks makes the system more cost-effective, Van Amburg relates. Sonoma County officials like the trash fleet electrification program because they see it as a means of improving local air quality, says Efren Carrillo, chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. Ratto concurs. “Here in Sonoma County there is a lot of environmental consciousness, and we are always looking for ways to be cleaner, environmentally friendly, and help the bottom line. And the idea that [by electrifying the trucks] we can do this and get off the air quality rollercoaster and stop battling to meet California emissions requirements— that makes it all worthwhile.”
ALSO SEE: The Tesla Semi will shake the trucking industry to its roots
Wrightspeed featured its powertrain technology alongside Mack Trucks at Waste Expo 2016 in Las Vegas and signed a $30+ million agreement with NZ Bus, symbolizing multinational and multimodal demand for Wrightspeed’s powertrain technology. In June, the company was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum (WEF), and CEO Wright was an invited presenter to the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. He will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming SAE 2016 Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles Symposium in Knoxville, 2-3 November, 2016.
Tesla Cybercab sightings are broadening far and wide, well outside of downtown Austin, Texas, with autonomy in focus as the company plans to launch the all-electric, two-seater this evening in the Lone Star State.
Tesla is set to launch Cybercab to a small group of people this evening in a dedicated event in Austin, Texas. Public details on the event are relatively slim.
However, Tesla’s focus on Cybercab falls well outside of the downtown Austin area and is expanding well across the United States as things continue to move quickly with the company’s autonomous efforts in 2026. Today, various images of Cybercab fleets in interesting locations have started to circulate.
The most notable is a fleet of at least 20 Cybercabs at Miami International Airport in Florida. Spotted last night, the fleet is expansive and is indicative of a looming release of Cybercabs once regulatory boxes are checked off.
Tesla has already been operating the Robotaxi platform in Miami for several months, but this Cybercab fleet at the airport could be joining the ride-hailing platform as approvals arrive:
20+ Cybercabs spotted near Miami international airport. pic.twitter.com/ORLsw8yFhf
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 3, 2026
Another fleet of Cybercabs was spotted at the Devon, PA showroom just outside of Philadelphia. We have seen several Cybercab units testing around the Philadelphia Metro Area, which is interesting considering Tesla does not have any active Robotaxi geofence in Pennsylvania.
Cybercab at the Devon location in PA has multiplied over the weekend. Seeing a few more test vehicles in the lot 👀 pic.twitter.com/DhJT4P1EkU
— Billy (@billykyle) August 22, 2026
Philadelphia would be an ideal location to test ride-hailing due to its dense tourist population, large, sprawling city layout, and to compete with other ride-hailing companies that operate in the city.
Expansive fleets of Cybercabs will be popping up in and around major cities throughout the rest of the year, if we were betting on it. Tesla has made it obvious that the Cybercab rollout will be aggressive and fast-paced, but within reason. Tesla is still prioritizing safety, so these testing phases will likely go on for some period of time before more members of the public are able to snag a Cybercab for a personal chariot.
The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.
However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.
🚨 Model Y L owners in China report rear suspension sag
• Six-seat long-wheelbase Y. Shanghai. On sale since August 2025
• Owners say the rear tire-to-arch gap shrinks after mileage or a full load. Some cases after about 9,000 km loaded. Others near 30,000 km
• Tesla service… pic.twitter.com/Lr6i5Tbi07— Joe Hansen (@joehansen) September 1, 2026
The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.
Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.
Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment
Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.
There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.
Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.
Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.
Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.
The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 2, 2026
The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.
However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.
No steering wheel, no pedals
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) September 2, 2026
Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.
Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.
Tesla Cybercab sightings broaden well outside of Austin with autonomy in focus
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
