Turbine engines are ideal technology for jets. They cram piles of power into a small, lightweight package, and have revolutionized air travel since their invention in the 1930s. Ian Wright sees them revolutionizing something else: garbage trucks.

Wright is a founder of Tesla Motors who left early on to launch Wrightspeed. He wanted to build a high-performance electric sports cars and even created a concept called the X1 that could hit 60 mph in under three seconds. But Wright realized he could make a much bigger difference tackling trucks most often associated with early morning wakeups, diesel fumes, and the stench of rotting garbage.

Sure, garbage trucks are boring. But they're devilish environmental actors, belching diesel exhaust all day as they creep through the city. So Wright developed an electric drivetrain that bolts right in. When the battery runs low, a turbine spins up, burning fuel to generate electricity to keep the truck moving. Coupled to motors at the wheels, it makes the system more similar to a train, which have used hybrid engines for decades, or a hugely overpowered Chevrolet Volt.