Eric de Jong knows that new ideas make Diamond Environmental Service run more efficiently. In December 2024, he hosted an event at his San Marcos, California-based dispatch facility to highlight one newly enacted idea: The purchase of four new Class 4-5 medium-duty, battery-electric e18L trucks by RIZON, engineered by Daimler Trucks North America.
The fleet addition was funded through the Short-Haul Zero-Emission Truck Pilot Project administered by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, and allowed the company to buy the service vehicles competitively against gas and diesel equivalents. Two vehicles are used to haul 10-unit portable restroom delivery flatbeds, and the other pair is used to deliver potable water.
The trucks are designed to achieve a range of up to 160 miles on a single charge.
“In terms of range, if you're in a city in Southern California, we have a lot of charging stations,” de Jong says. “We have an app that allows our drivers to find charging stations close by. When the drivers eat lunch, they can recharge them at that time. We’re less likely to take them out into the mountains where we have routes or into open, rural areas where we don’t yet have charging infrastructure.”
Driver training is essential to efficiently using EVs and extending their range. The vehicles can charge their batteries when they’re driving downhill, or when the trucks are braking at stop signs.
“They can create energy, versus draining the batteries if they’re driven right,” de Jong says.
Diamond drivers say they’re enjoying the ride, including the torque generated by the EV motors and the vehicles’ collision-avoidance features.
The RIZON vehicles have already demonstrated their ability to cut maintenance requirements. The only fluids required to operate the EVs are windshield wiper fluid.
“There are no oil changes, and they brake internally through the transmission or the electric gear body, so there’s no brake service required,” de Jong says. “They’re really low maintenance.”
With the incentives still in place, Diamond Environmental has two additional RIZON EVs on order.
“These trucks are a great addition to our daily local operations and align with our environmental and sustainability goals,” de Jong says. “With this incentive program, we can economically make the transition to EVs.”
