On April 1st, Foton Motor’s Q1 2025 Business Conference was grandly held at the National Convention Center. With a high – degree of focus on its new strategic goals, Foton Motor tailored comprehensive solutions for users and released its first low – entry sanitation truck, the Auhawk Blue EHL, opening a new chapter in urban sanitation equipment.
Breaking the Deadlock with Technology to Promote the Innovation of Sanitation Equipment
At present, China’s urbanization rate has exceeded 70%. The construction of urban agglomerations and the “Beautiful China” strategy have put forward higher requirements for sanitation equipment. Data shows that in 2024, the national urban household waste removal volume exceeded 300 million tons, and the market demand for sanitation equipment continues to expand. At the same time, under the impetus of the national “Double Carbon” strategy, problems such as high energy consumption, large emissions, and insufficient intelligence of traditional sanitation vehicles have become more prominent, becoming a key bottleneck restricting the green transformation of the industry.
From the perspective of the market situation, in 2024, the sales volume of domestic sanitation vehicles was approximately 25,000 units, but the penetration rate of low – entry models was less than 1%. In contrast, the proportion of low – entry products in the European market is as high as over 30%. Front – line sanitation workers generally face pain points such as frequent getting on and off the vehicle, limited vision, and high – intensity operations. Problems such as poor modification adaptability and lack of intelligent configurations of traditional vehicles have further exacerbated the industry’s efficiency bottleneck. Against this background, the release of the Auhawk Blue EHL aims at the industry’s upgrade demands for “modification adaptability, driving comfort, safety, and intelligence”, breaking the deadlock with technology to promote the innovation of sanitation equipment.
Tang Hongchao, President of Foton Motor’s Auhawk & Omotor Division, said that as Foton Motor’s first low – entry sanitation truck, the Auhawk Blue EHL shows strong scene – adaptation capabilities with its professional design, comfortable driving and riding experience, and comprehensive intelligent safety guarantee. It is equipped with a high – level intelligent driving system, redefining the four – dimensional value benchmark of “intelligence, safety, efficiency, and comfort” for special – purpose vehicles. It is reported that the Auhawk Blue EHL products have a battery capacity range of 165 – 260 kWh, which can cover scenarios such as cleaning, transportation, sewage removal, and various municipal cleaning scenarios.
“Since the launch of the Auhawk brand in 2019, it has gone through the technological accumulation of three generations of products. From the 1.0 stage in 2019, to the 2.0 stage in 2022, and then to the 3.0 stage in 2024, the Auhawk brand has completed its strategic layout, forming three energy technology routes of fuel, pure – electric, and hydrogen – fuel, and three vehicle body platforms, covering multiple fields such as express delivery, cold chain, green – channel transportation, sanitation, and vehicle rescue.” Tang Hongchao said at the conference that in 2025, Auhawk achieved another major leap – the release of a new platform. With professional performance, energy – saving and environmental – protection, intelligent technology, and comfortable experience as its core advantages, it realizes full – scene coverage of logistics solutions. With the launch of the new platform, Auhawk breaks through the boundaries again and redefines the new standards for super – trucks.
More Professional, More Comfortable, More Intelligent
The Auhawk Blue EHL is not just an ordinary sanitation vehicle. It has three major advantages of being more professional, more comfortable, and more intelligent, with 81 industry – leading technologies. Through innovative breakthroughs, it solves the industry’s equipment dilemma, realizes the integrated and coordinated operation of people, vehicles, and machines, and also shows the Auhawk brand’s attentive care for every sanitation worker and builds multiple safeguards for operational safety.
In terms of professionalism, first of all, the vehicle has a customized platform, adopting an integrated vehicle cooling design, which endows the vehicle with intelligent thermal management capabilities. It can precisely control the temperature of each component, reducing the vehicle’s energy consumption by 5% year – on – year and achieving more efficient operations with lower energy consumption. Secondly, the vehicle integrates the control of the superstructure and the chassis. The originally independent superstructure control part is deeply integrated into the chassis control system. By using a communication protocol conversion gateway to be compatible with multiple protocols, it improves compatibility and effectively enhances modification adaptability. Moreover, through in – depth exchanges and cooperation with three leading enterprises and two major bases, relying on the large – inch fully – laminated screen of the driver – friendly cockpit, it integrates 12 core functions. With just one – click operation, it can easily switch between multiple operation modes such as cleaning, watering, and garbage compression. The number of operation steps is greatly reduced compared with traditional sanitation vehicles, which greatly reduces the driver’s operation difficulty and improves operation efficiency, making sanitation work easier and more convenient. In addition, the vehicle’s exclusive new – energy platform relies on the super – power electric drive chain to greatly reduce energy consumption, and it can provide batteries with capacities of 165/200/246/260 kWh for selection.
In terms of comfort, the Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle breaks the traditional design pattern and creates a “home – like” mobile space. It innovatively adopts a human – centered low – entry design with a 410 – mm step in the golden ratio, enabling workers to “board the vehicle in one step” without strenuous climbing, reducing the intensity of getting on and off the vehicle by 40%. With a 2350 – mm wide – body cab and a flat – floor structure, it provides a standing space of 1930 mm. During operations, the driver can turn around and pick up items freely, and there is unobstructed passage throughout the cabin. The Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle also has a large field of vision, which is wider than that of traditional sanitation vehicles. Coupled with the column – shift control, the integrated intelligent control system for superstructure equipment, and the integrated large – screen with 360° panoramic imaging function, a 6 – way adjustable air – bag shock – absorbing seat, a modular storage system, and a comprehensively optimized quiet cab space with industry – leading NVH performance, it upgrades the driving space to the standard of an “intelligent first – class cabin”, allowing urban beauticians to feel the warmth of technology while working hard.
In terms of safety, the Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle builds an impregnable safety fortress with industry – leading active safety configurations and a solid body structure. The AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking), FCW (Forward Collision Warning), 360° panoramic view, etc. work together. Once potential risks are detected, the system will quickly and accurately issue warnings and intervene. The double – H – shaped body is like a mobile safety fortress. The Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle uses 1500 MPa hot – formed steel, and the proportion of high – strength steel can reach 62%, creating a stable protective structure, just like a golden shield of safety, ensuring worry – free trips.
It is worth mentioning that at the core “three – electric” safety level that users are concerned about, the Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle, based on Foton’s big data platform, through the battery thermal runaway warning platform, high – voltage active discharge function, high – voltage interlock, BMS (Battery Management System) active balancing technology, etc., maximally ensures the safety of drivers, improves energy use efficiency, optimizes the performance and service life of the battery pack, keeps the battery pack in an “optimal state”, and ensures that the cruising range and operation efficiency are not compromised.
The release of the Auhawk Blue EHL is not only a product innovation but also a milestone leap in its brand strategy. In the future, starting from the Auhawk Blue EHL sanitation vehicle, Auhawk will open a new chapter in sanitation transportation equipment with disruptive innovation, making cities more beautiful.
