A new "first of its kind" electric sweeper, called EV Broom Bear, made its debut Thursday as part of Los Angeles city leaders' effort to reduce the impact of climate change and electrify the city's equipment.
In a press conference Thursday morning, Councilman Bob Blumenfield, General Services Department General Manager and Chief Procurement Officer Tony Royster and StreetsLA General Manager Keith Mozee demonstrated the new green technology.
"As chair of the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee and former chair of the Public Works, I am proud that Los Angeles has invested more money in decarbonization efforts than any other city," Blumenfield said in a statement.
"We have all seen the effects of climate change and Angelenos have demanded a clean, carbon-free city," he added. "In big and small ways, we are now working on delivering and ensuring the future of Los Angeles."
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The city worked with manufacturers, Haaker Equipment and Elgin Sweeper companies, to develop, test and evaluate the functions of the Broom Bear. During the testing period, feedback was directly sent to the manufacturer to improve durability and performance of that prototype unit.
As a result of this partnership, the manufacturer was able to apply the data and make adjustments to develop the first generation, American made, EV Broom Bear.
"We already have one of the cleanest natural-compressed-gas fleets in the nation -- now we are basically going to zero emissions and be 100% clean," Mozee said in a statement. "When we first started talking about going green and electric years ago, some looked at us as if we were talking about going to the moon."
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"So now we are here, on the moon," he added.
Royster thanked Blumenfield, the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass for their leadership and having the departments move forward with electric street sweepers.
Broom Bear has a 570-horsepower electric motor and 360-gallon water capacity.
Officials said the new technology is capable of completing a day's worth of sweeping on one charge.
In 2022, the Council voted to transition to 100% clean energy by 2035. This plan, known as LA100, demonstrates that the city's goal of reaching 100% renewable electricity is achievable 10 years earlier than originally planned.
In addition, the Council directed city departments to create an Electric Vehicle Master Plan to transition the more than 10,000 vehicles into a green zero carbon fleet. This requires innovation for large scale industrial vehicles in addition to cars and trucks.
The mayor and council have directed all city departments to mitigate the effects of climate change in the city.
