You Voted and San Diego's Electric Street Sweeper Now Has a Name. Its 1st Big Job is December Nights

The citizens of San Diego have spoken and the city's newest team member, a mini electric street sweeper, has a new name.

SWEEP-E is at your service.

The city of San Diego held a naming competition to select the epithet for its first fully electric street sweeper -- first asking residents to submit their ideas. From 300 suggestions, the city narrowed down the competition to three finalists, which more than 1,000 San Diegans voted on to select a winner. Here's how the results panned out:

• SWEEP-E: 43.3%
• T.E.S.S. (The Electric Street Sweeper): 42.2% 
• The Blue Broomba: 14.4% 

In true democratic fashion, the chosen name beat T.E.S.S. by only 11 votes.

SWEEP-E showed off its abilities along J Street, sweeping up trash and debris from bike lanes along J Street, as members of the city of San Diego and Councilmember Stephen Whitburn revealed the new name Wednesday but his biggest job yet is only a few days away. It's tasked with cleaning up Balboa Park ahead of this weekend's December Nights holiday festival. But SWEEP-E gets some time off too; guests can meet the machine -- and even climb aboard for their own photo -- during the two-day festival. Find SWEEP-E at San Diego's Think Blue booth, which will be located in the Plaza de Panama.

The friendly competition, in partnership with the Think Blue San Diego education initiative, served a dual purpose, according to the city. Street sweeping is a step toward preventing ocean pollution, thus improving water quality in the city and protecting marine life, according to the city. SWEEP-E

“Street sweeping is an essential service when it comes to keeping trash and debris out of the ocean and SWEEP-E will be a real-world embodiment of that message as it travels our city making our neighborhoods clean and safe,” Councilmember Whitburn said.

The city said without street sweeping, more untreated urban runoff filled with pollutants enter San Diego's storm drains. SWEEP-E and the rest of the 20-vehicle fleet will help to remove pollutants like brake dust before they can reach our local waterways. Together, the vehicles will help to clean about 220,000 pounds of debris annually.

In addition, SWEEP-E's fully electric make-up means it's emission-free and is quieter than traditional street sweepers, the city boasts.