The Impact of Variable Ambient Temperatures on the Energy Efficiency and Performance of Electric Vehicles during Waste Collection

The market for electric cars (EVs) is growing quickly, which has led to a diversity of models and significant technological advancements, particularly in the areas of energy management, charging, range, and batteries. A thorough analysis of the scientific literature was conducted to determine the operational and technical parameters of EVs’ performance and energy efficiency, as well as the factors that influence them. This article addresses the knowledge gap on the analysis of ambient temperature-related parameters’ effects on electric garbage trucks operating in particular urban traffic conditions for selective waste collection. To optimize vehicle routes, a computational model based on the Vehicle Routing Problem was used, including the Ant Colony Optimization algorithm, considering not only the load capacity of garbage trucks but also their driving range, depending on the ambient temperature. The results show that the median value of collected bulky waste for electric waste collection vans, depending on the ambient temperature, per route is 7.1 kg/km and 220 kg/h. At a temperature of −10 °C, the number of points served by EVs is 40–64% of the number of points served by conventional vehicles. Waste collection using EVs can be carried out over short distances of up to 150 km, which constitutes 95% of the optimized routes in the analyzed case study. The research contributed to the optimal and energy-efficient use of EVs in variable temperature conditions.