Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Come?

ATeam · May 26, 2003

On May 21, 2003, the EO News section included a story about FedEx adding hybrid electric diesel trucks to its medium-duty FedEx Express fleet. This is a huge development that will prompt additional industry interest and new research and develoment dollars. It makes me wonder how long it will be before hybrid heavy-duty trucks will hit the market.

If these delivery vans work mostly as expected, and as the economics of scale bring hybird engine prices down, it's only a matter of time before all B Unit owners will have to go hybird. When some B Unit owners cut their fuel costs in half by going hybird, others will have to follow suit to compete. The good news is with major companies now beginning to use hybird and fuel-cell vehicles (see info about UPS below), there should be plenty of product-use data available before individual owner/operators have to buy.

The EO News story is at:

http://www.expeditersonline.com/artman/publish/article_457.html

Excerpts:

The FedEx OptiFleet E700 hybrid electric vehicle will decrease particulate emissions by 90 percent, reduce smog-causing emissions by 75 percent and increase fuel efficiency by 50 percent.

Eaton Corporation was the company selected to produce the hybrid electric powertrain for FedEx Express. FedEx Express has agreed to purchase 20 hybrid electric diesel delivery trucks using Eaton's innovative hybrid electric technology.

Later this year and into early 2004, these 20 vehicles will begin operation in four yet-to-be-named U.S. cities. These hybrid electric vehicles will endure real-world FedEx operating conditions to verify and prove their viability in commercial applications.

A four-cylinder engine replaces the six-cylinder version currently used in the FedEx Express W700 delivery vehicle. The engine size is reduced because of the added power provided by the electric motor. A particulate trap has been added to the truck to further reduce emissions.

Eaton's hybrid electric power train has been placed in the standard white FedEx Express W700 delivery truck, which utilizes a Freightliner chassis. The hybrid electric delivery vehicle will be differentiated from the standard FedEx Express delivery vehicle only by an OptiFleet brand decal on the sides and rear of the vehicle. The hybrid electric E700 has a gross vehicle weight of approximately 16,000 lbs. and a cargo capacity of approximately 670 cubic feet.

Excerpts From Other News Sources and Links To Full Stories:

CNN/Money
http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/20/news/companies/fedex_truck/

We've calculated in our financial estimates that over the life of the whole truck, we think that its about a break even point for us," said FedEx President David Bronczek. "Obviously, we'd like to do better than that. The more fleets that we can encourage to join this hybrid electric/diesel technology, the better it would be."

...rival United Parcel Service announced Tuesday that it will soon begin using fuel cell vehicles from Germany's DaimlerChrysler, to begin letter delivery service by the end of the summer.

FedEx Press Release
(link too long to post)

Lithium-ion batteries capture and store energy during the "regenerative braking" phase of the vehicle's operation, providing a source of stored electric power for the motor during future acceleration. Therefore, all electrical charging of the battery is provided by the hybrid electric powertrain, and no external electrical infrastructure, such as a power cord or electrical outlet, is needed.

Atlanta Journal Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/0503/20upsfuel.html

UPS and officials of the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that an automobile powered by a DaimlerChrysler fuel cell will be placed in service by UPS later this year in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The DaimlerChrysler "F Cell" passenger car will be used for morning deliveries of next-day-air parcels, said Paula Smith, a spokeswoman for Sandy Springs-based UPS. It will get hydrogen fuel from a station operated in Ann Arbor by the EPA.

Next year, the company will add at least one fuel-cell-powered Sprinter delivery van to its Michigan fleet. The company operates 2,500 Sprinters, which look like oversized passenger vans, in the United States and overseas.

Weave · May 26, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

I have been keeping track of the hybrid cars Honda and Toyota have on the road now. When I hear that word, hybrid, I think of Diesel-Electric locomtives that have been riding the rails since 1936.
A good friend of mine who passed away a couple of years ago was one of the major engineers from the beginning who helped to design hybrid cars. He worked for Gould International, Lockheed-Martin, and Allen-Bradley Controls before he passed away, and was a second father to me. Hybrid vehicles are very complex in the power control department. Initial effeciency reports on the Honda and Toyota jobs are going almost opposite of what the engineers thought. They rock and roll on acceleration, yet fall apart on open highway cruising where they should be most effecient. It seems the small displacement engines in the Hondas and Toyotas are pressed to their limits on the highway, and are forced to run wide open instead of at part throttle where they are most effecient. The "Electric generator" simply cannot generate enough electricity running on the highway to keep the batteries at a sufficient charge level to keep up with the current demands of the drive motor. So, what will it take?
We will get into hybrids with 200 HP, the same average power level we have now running a standard automotive driveline, with about the same effeciency, and a million times more complicated and expensive.
I highly doubt I will see hybrid highway trucks blowing me off the road in my lifetime, but it may come eventually.
What does it take to make the locomotives work? Well, they accelerate very slowly, that is not an issue. Their engines produce thousands of horsepower to keep the train rolling, and they cost over a million dollars a piece.
Hybrid 101 by yours truly,
-Weave-

teacel · May 26, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

Listening to RFK Jr. cry tunes, the other day, and in trying to put together some of what he was saying, (because if you ever heard him answer a question, you would know what I mean) I would have to agree with you Weave, about not ever seeing them in our life time. If I understood Kennedy the other day, I think he said that the Private Sector will not invest in this Hybrid thing.

I don’t think we have to worry about competing with hybrid. The money they save in fuel, will have to be paid out in hourly wage. According to Weaves report they can’t run very fast for very long. It will take them all the longer to do their deliveries

streetsweeper · May 30, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

Tag Tony! Yer a weirdo! HAHAHA!

I am in full agreement about the hybrid. Weren't they originally intended for metro and car use?

ATeam · Jun 1, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

Thank you for your replies. This will be an interesting development to watch.

Weave · Jun 1, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

I am slowly remembering what my friend Marty told me about hybrids. All the technology is here now for them to work great, with the big exception of battery technology. The high current batteries needed for a hybrid or all electric vehicle now are still too big and heavy, and there is also the question of recycling or disposing of them when they die. There has been a big surge among battery manufacturers to find the materials to make these batteries smaller and lighter and more enviro-freindly, but its been a slow road. Hybrid tech might make it into the big trucks in the future, but it's going to be limited to the lightweight jobs for now. I think I'll be retired or dirt napping when hybrid big trucks hit the roads.
-Weave-

RichM · Jun 5, 2003

RE: Hybrid Electric Diesel; A Sign of Things to Co

The Hybrid idea is great for local city type delivery vehicles that do not need to go at Highway speeds etc. I was in Las cruces NM a while back and while parked got chatting with a guy who had a Toyota Hybrid car. He let me drive it around a super market lot,it was strange to say the least as there was no noise,you turned the key and a large console lit up giving battery info etc and off you went. He claimed to get 62-65 mpg around town and said it could cruise at 70 mph with no strain.Of course it was only a month old so who knows how well it will hold up.Think if you had a truck like a locomotive with all axles powered by electric motors,a constant speed engine to generate electricity for the motors and only draw as much amps as you needed,it would probaly be economical but weigh 200,000 pounds. I personally think the hydrogen cell technology will eventually be the fuel of the future but we will all be long gone before that happens.