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Jun 10, 2015

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA: Garbage trucks can be hybrids, too

* DC - Wrightspeed replaces medium- and heavy-duty vehicle powertrains with hybrids
(Photo: A Wrightspeed powertrain) 
... Wrightspeed, has been building range-extended electric powertrains that companies like Fedex can use to completely replace the conventional internal combustion bits on their existing trucks... Focusing on the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle market made plenty of sense, Wright told us. "A vehicle needs to use at least 4,000 gallons (15,150 liters) of fuel a year to make the cost of a hybrid powertrain worthwhile, which happens to be about as much as a delivery truck" ...

Wrightspeed's powertrain uses high-speed permanent magnet motors (unlike the induction motors used by Tesla), one for either side of a driven axle. These motors send their power to the driven wheels via a two-speed transmission. The batteries (from A123) are lithium-ion phosphate, and Wright told us that the battery architecture and chemistry was chosen carefully—as were the inverters—to cope with regenerating up to 1,000 hp (730 kW) during deceleration. Wrightspeed has also developed its own range-extender engine, a turbine called the Fulcrum. This generates 107 hp (80 kW) and weighs 250 lb (113 kg), about a tenth the weight of a similarly powerful piston engine...

Wright told us that one of the company's range-extended electric powertrains should pay for itself through fuel savings within three to four years. Equipping a fleet of medium-duty trucks costs between $50,000 and $100,000 per vehicle, with a heavy-duty vehicle like a garbage truck costing closer to $200,000... Between 1990 and 2012, the amount of carbon emitted by the biggest vehicles on the road have increased by 74 percent; by contrast, passenger cars and small trucks have risen by just under 14 percent over the same period... 
Washington, DC, USA - Ars Technica, by Jonathan M. Gitlin - Jun 8, 2015

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Feb 23, 2012

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* France / USA - GM Talks Production Deal With PSA Peugeot Citroen


Paris,France / Detroit, Michigan,USA -The Car Connection (USA), by Kurt Ernst -Feb 22, 2012: ... Reuters is reporting that GM has entered talks with Peugeot, aimed at devising a strategy for sharing vehicles and components. Unlike joint ventures between Volkswagen and Suzuki, or Ford and Mazda, the relationship between GM and Peugeot would not involve a blending of capital... Industry analysts were unimpressed by the news, quickly pointing out that both Peugeot and Opel have an over-capacity problem in the European market...


* France - Companies opt for the Renault Trucks hybrid vehicle

(Photo: Renault Premium distribution hybrids tech)
Lyon,France -Irish Trucker (Ireland) -21 February 2012: -- Renault Trucks has just presented the keys for a 26t hybrid truck to logistician ID Logistics which will operate it on behalf of the Carrefour outlets in the Marseilles and Nice town centres... Powered by diesel and electricity, this hybrid truck operates silently in all-electric mode and cuts consumption and polluting emissions by 20%... The Carrefour town centre stores in Marseilles and Nice are now supplied by means of a hybrid Renault Trucks vehicle...   Since the end of January, the logistician ID Logistics has been working with a 26t 6x2 310 hp Premium Distribution Hybrys Tech... Hybrid technology is particularly suitable for food distribution in urban or periurban environments...

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Jul 21, 2009

Hybrid Truck Industry * USA - Set to Lead Worldwide

Washington,D.C.,USA -VOA News, by Rosanne Skirble -20 July 2009: -- Berjerone Mason has been a FedEx courier in Washington, D.C., for the past 11 years. He begins his workday at the FedEx station around 5 a.m., checks his truck and sorts and loads his packages. When the fleet heads out a few hours later, he's on his own. He'll make some 70 deliveries by the end of the day... Mason gets good service from his truck. While it looks exactly like every FedEx delivery van, it is actually one of just three in the Washington fleet equipped with a hybrid, diesel-electric engine... FedEx was the first in its industry to put a hybrid truck on the road and now operates 200 worldwide, with the largest active fleet in North America. Mason was assigned the hybrid three years ago, and he says he notices the difference in how it drives... (Photo above: The diesel electric truck that FedEx courier Berejone Mason drives improves fuel economy by 42 percent, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent and cuts particulate pollutants by 96 percent )

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Jun 13, 2009

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Take the Hill

Washington,DC,USA -The Enviromental Leader -June 12, 2009: -- The first Hybrid Day On the Hill, organized by clean transportation group CALSTART and its Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF), warns that hybrid trucks need help to succeed and retain the technology lead American firms now have... The event outlined the benefits of hybrid technology, and provided highlights from a new Duke University study, commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund and CALSTART’s Hybrid Truck Users Forum Incentives Working Group. The report indicates that more than 30 states are home to truck and component manufacturing and development in the clean truck sector, and that the growth of the industry offers solid economic opportunities for the U.S... The U.S. trucking industry consumes more than 52 billion gallons of fuel each year and accounts for 21 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transport activities, according to the report. By using hybrid drivetrain technology for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, the industry can improve fuel economy by 20-50 percent with a corresponding decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and smog-forming pollutants... The study finds that by 2020, if the market produces 60,000 hybrid trucks as projected, these low and high scenarios would translate into an estimated 52 million to 130 million gallons of fuel saved and .6 million to 1.4 million tons of CO2 reduced per year... (Picture from hjarsaas: hjarsaas truck)

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May 10, 2009

* SOUTH AFRICA - Small hybrid may soon enter SA’s trucking mix

Cape Town,SA -Engineering News, by Irma Venter -8 May 2009: -- Hino South Africa – a Toyota South Africa (TSA) group company – is testing a small hybrid truck for possible introduction into the local market. If successful, it would be the first hybrid truck to make an appearance on South Africa’s roads... A hybrid vehicle uses two or more power sources to move the vehicle... Hino South Africa vice-president, Piet van Wyk de Vries. says the Japanese-developed 7-t truck is an electric/diesel engine hybrid, ideal for deliveries within urban areas... An added advantage is that the truck’s diesel consumption is around 20% less. Savings of up to 30% are possible... However, the hybrid truck is around 10% to 15% more expensive than a comparable, standard diesel truck... (Photo by amazonaws: Hino hybrid ranger)

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Mar 18, 2009

Hybrid Utility Truck * Canada - ATCO Electric Leads Alberta With Introduction of First One

Vehicle Uses Both Electricity and Diesel Fuel to Significantly Improve Environmental Performance

Edmonton,ALBTA,CAN -MSNBC -March 18, 2009: -- ATCO Electric today introduced the Alberta utility industry's first hybrid maintenance vehicle to its fleet - a bucket truck that operates on electricity and diesel to significantly reduce environmental impact during power line work... With an enclosed work platform, or bucket, fitted at the end of a hinged arm extended during aerial maintenance and repair operations, the environmentally progressive vehicle will be deployed in Grande Prairie: an urban setting that faces diverse weather conditions...

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Jan 29, 2009

HYBRID TRUCKS * Canada - New hybrid-electric delivery truck unveiled in Victoria

Victoria,BC,CAN -Truck News -28 Jan 2009: -- Thanks to support from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and the Fraser Basin Council’s Green Fleets B.C. program, Victoria-based R&B Trucking is meeting the tough economic times head on with a new diesel-electric hybrid refrigerated delivery truck that’s expected to save the company as much as 35% in fuels costs and reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 20 tonnes per year... It’s all part of the Fraser Basin Council’s Green Fleets B.C. program, which provides support to trucking companies, to help them move towards environmentally-friendly practices and technologies. In return for sharing their experiences with others in the industry, participating companies save money, improve worker health, and decrease smog and GHG emissions... (Picture: The hybrid delivery truck could save fuel consumption by up to 35%)

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Nov 16, 2008

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Joining Fort Worth trash collection fleet

Fort Worth,TX,USA -The Dallas Morning News, by ELIZABETH SOUDER -November 15, 2008: -- Waste Management Inc. is adding four hydraulic hybrid garbage trucks, the first such vehicles in the world, to its Fort Worth fleet... The move is part of the Houston company's plan to test technologies to cut fuel consumption 15 percent. And cutting fuel consumption can improve Fort Worth's air quality as North Texas tries to meet federal clean air standards...

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Oct 30, 2008

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY * USA - Coupling Delivery Trucks With

Hybrid systems and delivery trucks would seem to be an ideal partnership

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by IAN AUSTEN -October 30, 2008: -- ... Many hybrids store the energy created when a vehicle slows or brakes and use it later to make the vehicle go. Except for taxis and city buses, few vehicles do as much stop-and-go driving as delivery trucks... But a number of factors — some technical, most financial — mean that only about 1,000 of the trucks rumbling around American cities delivering soft drinks or lumber are hybrids. Commercial production of such vehicles began less than a year ago, and they are available, at least in North America, from only three companies... The hybrid trucks are sold by Paccar under the Kenworth, Peterbilt marques; International, which is owned by Navistar; and Freightliner, and they are far less ambitious than the passenger cars sold by Toyota and other automakers... (Photo: Courtesy Kenworth Truck Company - Kenworth Truck Company's new T370 Class 7 diesel-electric hybrid tractor)

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Sep 25, 2008

Program for Hybrid Trucks * USA - House Passes Legislation That Would Create it

The House passed a bill Wednesday designed to spur the development of plug-in hybrid utility and delivery trucks

Washington,DC,USA -CQPolitics.com, by Kathryn A. Wolfe -Sept. 24, 2008: -- The measure, which passed by voice vote, would create a competitive grant program at the Energy Department to help businesses research, develop and ultimately sell these vehicles... During a June hearing on the bill, sponsor F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. , R-Wis., said delivery trucks often drive short distances but idle for hours once they reach their destinations... A plug-in hybrid engine in a utility truck, he said, could use up to 60 percent less fuel... The bill would authorize $16 million a year through fiscal 2011 for the program...

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Jun 25, 2008

Hybrid Haulage * USA - Could save fuel and the environment

US members of congress are pressing for government to support the development of medium and large trucks with hybrid electric-combustion engines

Washingtron,DC,USA -NewScientistTech (Haywards Heath,UK ), by Jeff Hecht -24 June 2008: -- ...The call for the Department of Energy to help out came after hearings by the House of Repesentatives science and technology committee on the future for hybrid trucks, and US pump prices exceeding a once unthinkable $4 a gallon... Hybrid technology for trucks is about a decade behind, says Richard Parish of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum, an organisation partly supported by the US Army to develop the industry... Hybrid trucks have developed slowly because the complexity of hybrid vehicles is a bad fit with the way trucks are built, says Parish. Hybrids attain high efficiency by integrating combustion and electric engines, transmission, drive train, and other components into a seamless whole, carefully managed by a computer. Achieving that is difficult for truck vendors who typically add components from various suppliers onto an in-house chassis... And electric vehicles are becoming more common on delivery routes. At current prices that saves $2500 a year per truck... Counterintuitively, large long-haul trucks benefit from cutting idling too. A hybrid long-haul truck could save 3270 gallons of fuel a year – 7 to 10% of usual fuel use... Technological hurdles remain, however. Batteries must become lighter, cheaper and able to power equipment that now runs off idling engines, says Terry Penney, manager of advanced vehicle technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado... The science and technology committee is now drafting a bill that would see the DOE support hybrid trucks, adding to a recently announced $30-million programme of aid for plug-in hybrid cars...

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Jun 12, 2008

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Drive Through The 'Valley of Death'

Use of hybrid engine technology in commercial trucks remains very much in its infancy. Expect that infancy to last a while, even with diesel prices soaring

New York,NY,USA -Forbes, by Andrew T. Gillies -11 June 2008: -- ... A hybrid big rig costs 50% more than a conventional one, too rich a premium for most consumers. The federal government, while interested in promoting more efficient trucks, isn't a likely savior here... All this was up for discussion at a Tuesday Capitol Hill hearing, held by the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment... It's not for lack of trying: For 15 years, the federal government has worked on bringing about that shift, through both military efforts and Department of Energy programs like the Advanced Heavy Hybrid Propulsion Systems initiative and the 21st Century Truck Partnership... Meanwhile, the private sector has been pushing ahead with hybrid systems, which combine gas and electric motors, in passenger cars... But, as several panelists pointed out Tuesday, passenger cars and commercial trucks are very different beasts...

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May 22, 2008

HYBRID TRUCKS *USA - Hydraulic hybrid truck tested by courier trio

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking -22 May 2008: -- A government-corporate partnership led by Calstart's Hybrid Truck Users Forum has selected Hybra-Drive Systems LLC to build three Class 6 trucks for real-world testing by UPS, FedEx Ground and Canada's Purolator... Hybra-Drive hopes the evaluations will demonstrate up to a 60 percent cut in fuel use along with an accompanying reduction in emissions.In a hydraulic hybrid truck, a high-efficiency diesel engine is combined with a unique hydraulic propulsion system, replacing the conventional drivetrain and transmission... The vehicle uses hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks to store energy, similar to what is done with electric motors and batteries in hybrid electric vehicles. Fuel economy is increased in three ways: vehicle braking energy is recovered that normally is wasted; the engine is operated more efficiently; and the engine can be shut off when stopped or decelerating...

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Apr 25, 2008

HYBRID SYSTEMS * USA - The World's Largest Hybrid

USA - Edison's Desk, by Tim Richter -April 22nd, 2008: -- The GE Hybrid Vehicle team has reached another milestone with a successful demonstration of a hybrid off-highway vehicle modified with a 600hp battery pack that captures braking energy to save fuel and increase productivity... An off-highway vehicle, also known as a haul truck, is a very big dump truck used for open pit mining operations... GE will continue testing the hybrid OHV to learn how to best utilize the batteries and understand how long we can expect the batteries to last in harsh applications such as the mine haul truck. I’m looking forward to next steps in the OHV project and in other hybrid applications – these technologies continue to gather interest and value against the continuing increase in fuel prices and price pressures on manufacturers and distributors...


* American utility places order for 18 hybrid utility trucks

Springfield,OH,USA - Truck News(CAN) -23 April 2008: -- American Electric Power (AEP) has led all North American utility companies in the implementation of hybrid-drive trucks, thanks to a new order of 18 hybrid utility trucks... The order for 18 International DuraStar hybrid trucks was placed on Earth Day, Apr. 22 and will compliment the utility's existing fleet of four hybrid trucks...

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Mar 20, 2008

SOLUTIONS * USA - 1· Big-Rig Hybrids

People usually do not associate the word "green" with diesel trucks, but big diesels are getting cleaner

New York,NY,USA -Forbes, by Deborah Orr -19 Mar 2008: -- ... All new heavy-duty diesel engines sold in the U.S. after 2007 must meet strict new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards that filter almost all the black soot particles and much of the nitrogen oxides that cause acid rain. The next set of standards, set to go into effect in 2010, will reduce nitrogen oxides even further... The dirty little secret of the cleaner diesel engines: they burn more fuel--a big problem for fleet operators facing a 44% rise in diesel fuel costs over the last year. Commercial vehicles--the main consumers of diesel fuel--can accumulate 75,000 miles in a year... Even a small decrease in fuel efficiency can make a big difference to truck operators' bottom lines... This is why heavy-duty truck manufacturers are now paying a lot of attention to diesel hybrids... A hybrid truck can deliver fuel savings of 5% to 60%, depending on how it is driven. For one type of hybrid technology, the EPA estimates the average urban delivery truck could save more than 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year... Hybrid power systems work best in vehicles that stop and start all the time, which means that they are ideal for delivery trucks, garbage trucks and school and city busses. For a long-haul vehicle, the savings would be significantly less... One way hybrids save energy is by using an electric motor, or even a pressurized hydraulic system, to boost the performance of the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is accelerating or under heavy load. The energy can be stored chemically (in a battery), electrically (in a capacitor) or mechanically (in a pressurized hydraulic system)... The Energy Policy Act of 2005 can provide federal tax credits of up to $12,000 per unit for diesel hybrid purchases... That may not be quite enough to offset an initial 35% premium over conventional vehicles, but with diesel averaging $3.88 a gallon nationwide, fleet operators will be weighing their options: pay more up front at the dealer or pay more at the pump for years to come...


* 2 · Now more than ever truckers must know their operating costs to survive

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -March 19, 2008: -- As diesel fuel prices continue to rise, many owner-operators are desperate to find ways to cut costs to make up for dramatic increases in fuel costs and low freight rates... During the past week, almost 65 percent of truckers who responded to Land Line’s Web poll indicated they have paid $4 per gallon for diesel... OOIDA member Ken Simmons of Discount Trucking Inc., in Crosby, TX, has these words of advice for owner-operators who are struggling to stay afloat right now: “Make sure you know what your cost of doing business is before you accept a load.” ... He said marketing is also key for owner-operators to make sure potential customers know about their trucking business... Another crucial factor for owner-operators struggling to make money right now is checking credit on brokers before they take a load to make sure they will get paid for their loads... OOIDA member Joseph Frazier of Satsuma, AL, has made two important business decisions in order to survive the high fuel costs and low freight rates: He’s saying no to cheap freight, and he’s slowing down... Right now, Frazier said his Freightliner is getting about 7 miles to the gallon just by keeping the speedometer at 63 or 64 miles per hour.He is leased to Fikes Truck Lines, which is 100 percent owner-operators. Frazier said he gets 100 percent of the fuel surcharge, which helps him out. Fikes bases the surcharge on 5.5 mpg, so he is able to keep the difference as profit... Frazier, said he knows what his bottom-line freight rate has to be to run, which he said is right around $1.65 now... Frazier said it’s also important to lease on to a company that has only owner-operators because many companies that have company trucks will take care of their company drivers first... “If you lease on to a company that has 700 company trucks and 200 owner-operators, guess who they are going to take care of first. Then they are going to turn around and give you the freight they want you to haul,” he said...

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Jan 22, 2008

Hybrid Truck * USA - Corporate Express tests one from Isuzu

Broomfield,CO,USA -Business Report -January 21, 2008: -- Corporate Express US Inc., part of the Dutch-based Corporate Express NV, said it will test pilot a prototype diesel hybrid-electric delivery truck from Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc.... The office products company, with its U.S. headquarters in Broomfield, said the pilot program is the first step toward adding Isuzu hybrid-electric vehicles to its U.S. delivery fleet, with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions... The technology combines an electric motor and electronic controls to help power the vehicle... (Photo: Elf diesel hybrid truck)

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Nov 14, 2007

Hybrid Trucks* UK - Major operators trial they

TNT, Tesco, DHL and the Royal Mail are among several high-profile companies about to embark on hybrid truck trials in the UK

London,UK -Road Transport -13 November 2007: -- Each operator has purchased its own Mitsubishi Canter Eco Hybrid 7.5-tonner (albeit subsidised by Mercedes-Benz), which will go into service in London in early 2008. The performance of the vehicles will be closely monitored by the operator and Mercedes-Benz. Transport for London is also involved, and will oversee the three-year trial... Mercedes-Benz UK truck boss Ian Jones explains that the only significant difference is that they have been adapted to comply with Euro 4 rather than the latest Japanese emissions regulations...

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Jul 21, 2007

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Hydraulic Powertrains Propel These Ones

Not all hybrid vehicles rely on electric motors, batteries and wires. Some propel the vehicle with a combination of hydraulic pump-motors, fluid lines and accumulators

Waltham,MA,USA -Design News, by Joseph Ogando -July 16, 2007: -- UPS has been testing a hydraulic hybrid version of a Class 6 delivery vehicle in Michigan for the past year. The company has also put 50 hybrid electric delivery vehicles into service... Why hydraulic hybrids? Larger vehicles with frequent starts and stops require energy storage systems with lots of power density. And on that score, hydraulics shine...

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