King County, Washington state’s most populous county with more than 2.2 million residents, received a first look at its new Kenworth T680E battery electric vehicle at the Kenworth Renton manufacturing plant. King County’s Solid Waste Division will operate the Kenworth T680E to transfer refuse from the county’s Recycling and Transfer Station in Enumclaw to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill in Maple Valley. King County purchased the Class 8 Kenworth battery electric vehicle through Papé Kenworth Northwest – SeaTac.
In 2020, King County announced its Strategic Climate Action Plan that sets goals directed at cutting greenhouse emissions in half by the end of the decade. To help accomplish this goal, King County plans to continue to add zero emissions vehicles to its fleet.
The T680E is designed for pickup and delivery, regional haul and drayage applications, and is available as a day cab as either a tractor or straight truck. The T680E has an 82,000 lb. gross vehicle weight rating and estimated 150-mile operating range, depending on application.
King County also purchased a PACCAR charger rated at 120 kW to support T680E recharging. PACCAR Parts distributes electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that maximize coverage over a full range of Kenworth electric vehicles, with output power from 20 kilowatts (kW) to 350 kW. Customers can rely on the expertise of PACCAR Parts and its infrastructure partners to tailor EV charger solutions to fit the needs of any size and fleet. EV chargers can be purchased from Kenworth dealers.
A ceremony featured King County Executive Dow Constantine; Pat McLaughlin, King County Solid Waste Division director; Jim Walenczak, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing; Bryan Sitko, Kenworth assistant general manager for operations; and Kelly Hall, Washington state director of Climate Solutions. Also in attendance were Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone; Darrin Child, Kenworth Renton plant manager; and Mitch Hatfield, general manager of Papé Kenworth for the Northwest and Alaska.
