UPS to Be First to Roll Out Hydraulic Hybrid Delivery Trucks
After 18 months of prototype testing, shipping giant UPS has ordered seven hydraulic hybrid vehicles in the first commercial purchase of the technology that combines a high-efficiency diesel engine with a hydraulic propulsion system. Read More
After 18 months of prototype testing, shipping giant UPS has ordered seven hydraulic hybrid vehicles in the first commercial purchase of the technology that combines a high-efficiency diesel engine with a hydraulic propulsion system.
The deal was announced yesterday in Atlanta’s Centennial Park by UPS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, diversified power management firm Eaton Corporation and truck and military vehicle-maker Navistar International Corporation — partners in the project to develop, road test and advance the vehicles toward market release.
The media conference was webcast live by TriplePundit.com.
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Technology for the HHV was originally developed in an EPA lab. The federal agency worked with the other project partners to produce the prototype that in road tests yielded 45 to 50 percent improvement in fuel economy and a 30 percent reduction in C02, when compared to performance of conventional diesel delivery trucks, according to UPS.
“There is no question that hydraulic hybrids, although little known to the public, are ready for prime time use on the streets of America,” UPS Chief Operating Officer David Abney said. “We are not declaring hydraulic hybrids a panacea for our energy woes, but this technology certainly is as promising as anything we’ve seen to date.”
Abney pointed to the P1000 HHV prototype, clad in UPS trademark colors and supplied by the EPA, that two 10-year UPS veterans had test-driven on routes in the Detroit area during the 18-month trial period. Except for being larger than the delivery vans often seen in many urban areas, the vehicle looked pretty much like any other UPS truck — a fact Abney noted in his talk.
“Under the hood,” Abney said, “it’s a completely different story.”
The HHV pairs a high-efficiency diesel engine with a hydraulic propulsion system that replaces the conventional drivetrain and transmission. Hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks store energy, which is similar to what happens with electric motors and batteries in hybrid electric vehicles.
The HHV system transfers pressurized hydraulic fluid to the rear drive pump motor or the high pressure accumulator during the course of operation. Energy that would otherwise go to waste when the vehicle brakes is stored and recovered during acceleration. That, engine efficiency and the capacity to shut the engine off when braking or decelerating are the factors that enable the fuel economy, according to UPS and the EPA.
“We’re on our road to success,” said Chris Grundler, deputy director for the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
Asked about vehicle costs after the presentation, the firms and the EPA declined to give specifics about the HHV, which is still in the preproduction stage.
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The EPA estimated, however, that when manufactured in high volume, the incremental cost difference between HHV and conventional vehicles would be about $7,000 and that the sum could be recouped in three years because of savings in fuel and brake and other maintenance expenses, a UPS spokeswoman later told GreenBiz.
UPS expects to put the first two of the seven HHVs on the road in the first quarter of 2009 in the Minneapolis area, where road and environmental performance will continue to be monitored by Eaton, which helped develop and refine the power system for the vehicles. The other five will be deployed later in 2009 in locations that are still to be determined. The launch is to be completed by early 2010.
The addition of the HHVs would bring UPS’ green fleet to more than 2,100 vehicles in an overall pool of more than 88,000 delivery cars, vans, tractors and motorcycles. The company’s low-carbon vehicles include all-electric, hybrid electric, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and propane-powered trucks.
Representatives for the three firms and the EPA were asked yesterday about application of HHV technology in passenger vehicles. In general, the group said the technology could be used in large trucks or SUVs but did not see as much potential for it in sedans, according to a UPS spokeswoman.
UPS test-drivers said they liked the way the vehicle handled in multiple start-and-stop sitations and that in enclosed areas the engine was quieter than conventional trucks and did not produce fumes typical of traditional vehicles, UPS spokeswoman Elizabeth Rasberry told GreenBiz.
While UPS is “very bullish on the new technology,” the company plans to maintain a diverse fleet, she said.
“We deploy a wide range of technologies because we operate all over the world,” Rasberry said. “What works well in some areas might not necessarily work as well someplace else.”
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Asked for comment on the emergence of the HHV for commercial use and what effect it might have on development of electric vehicles, a board member for the EV advocacy group Plug In America tipped his hat to Eaton and the other project partners but noted that the truck nevertheless relies on a fossil fuel to operate.
“Eaton’s system is just another kind of hybrid,” Dan Davids, a member of the board of directors for Plug In America, told GreenBiz. “There may be advantages in using this in the multiple start-stop drive cycle of a delivery truck. But, like I said, it’s just a hybrid.”
“All the energy comes ultimately from the fossil fuel carried onboard,” Davids said in a statement provided to GreenBiz. “It may be efficient, but it is not a technology that includes an additional fuel source that is ‘filled up’ with more onboard energy at the start of the day (or during the day). So, it is not something that would compete with plug-ins. I say good on them for exploring this technology. But my guess is that electric boost remains the technology that is doable sooner, simpler and safer.”
