Predictable and electric: how Team Sauberes Karlsruhe is electrifying its municipal waste management with elephi

Municipal waste management leaves no room for error. Routes start early, time windows are tight and a vehicle that is not ready in the morning throws the entire day off schedule. The Team Sauberes Karlsruhe, the public utility of the city of Karlsruhe, has taken a decisive approach to electrifying its fleet of around 50 waste management vehicles. The charging infrastructure was planned and built by SPL Powerlines, with elephi by IO-Dynamics serving as the central energy management system. What needs to work every day, needs to be planned every day.

From pilot to electric fleet

The Team Sauberes Karlsruhe did not make the move to electric vehicles unprepared. Before full deployment, the eEconic was put through more than a year of real-world testing: around 80 km of daily operation, up to 60 stops, urban waste collection. The results were convincing across the board. Today, eight Mercedes-Benz eEconic trucks are in regular service, covering a fixed share of the collection routes in Karlsruhe. At the depot, eight Kempower Control Units in combination with two Power Units supply the fleet. Installed by SPL Powerlines, the system was designed from the outset with the planned expansion in mind.

"Municipal waste fleets have clear requirements for charging infrastructure: high availability, robust technology and the ability to grow with the fleet. That is exactly what we delivered in Karlsruhe", says Jean-Marie Gerbaulet, Project Manager, SPL Powerlines.

elephi: charging to the rhythm of waste logistics

Fully charged, on time, ready to go: elephi keeps the electric waste fleet of the Team Sauberes Karlsruhe operational every day. The platform knows every truck, every route plan and every departure time and schedules every charging session accordingly. Vehicles with early departures are prioritised, later shifts are charged gradually and with battery longevity in mind.

elephi also handles active load management at the depot. When many vehicles charge within a tight time window, uncontrolled load peaks quickly put strain on the grid connection and drive up costs. elephi distributes charging sessions so that the available grid capacity is used efficiently but never exceeded. Load peaks simply do not occur.

The eEconic features built-in preconditioning that brings the battery up to operating temperature before the route begins, securing full range even on cold days. Since this process draws energy itself, elephi factors it in from the start: every truck is still fully charged afterwards. The on-site PV system will be integrated into the charging schedule in the next step, so locally generated solar power feeds directly into the fleet.

"An electric waste fleet only works if the charging works. With elephi we have a system that hands over every vehicle ready for service each morning, while giving us full control over energy use at the depot. That reliability is exactly what we need in daily operations", says Dennis Egen, Mobility Department, Team Sauberes Karlsruhe.

Scalable from the start

What works reliably in Karlsruhe today with eight vehicles is designed as a foundation, not a finish line. By the end of the year, the depot will grow to 19 vehicles and 20 charging points in total. elephi scales with it, without any need to reconfigure the underlying logic. TSK's long-term goal is clear: by 2035 the entire fleet is to run on alternative drivetrains. 

"Waste logistics is a demanding application for electric commercial vehicles. Fixed routes, tight time windows, high energy demand, and that every single day. Karlsruhe shows that it works when charging management and operational planning truly come together. For other municipal operators taking this step, that is a strong signal", says Johann Olsen, CEO and Co-Founder, IO-Dynamics.

Karlsruhe shows what municipal electrification looks like in practice when it is done right: step by step, predictably, without added complexity. What works here can be replicated elsewhere. elephi makes sure the intelligence behind it keeps pace.