The Toronto Transit system, BC Transit and UPS have something in common these days—hybrid diesel electric technology. The Toronto Transit Commission is actually about to switch away from the technology, while BC Transit intends to keep using it, and UPS is about to embrace it.
Diesel electric hybrid buses already run in Toronto, and they’re not performing as well as expected. In fact, they’re showing less than half the fuel savings predicted by the hybrid diesel electric manufacturers. They are saving on fuel, but only about 10 to 13 percent, instead of the 20 to 30 percent predicted. They’re also having some problems with some of the batteries. Toronto plans to switch back to regular buses soon.
B. C. Transit uses hybrid diesel electric buses, but intends to keep using them over at least the next year to try to get a more accurate picture of the savings they offer. They’re not having the same battery problems as the Toronto Transit system, but the batteries they use are different and a bit more advanced. The hybrid diesel electric batteries used in B. C. are nickel metal hydride, where the Toronto buses use the older lead-acid technology.
The B. C. Transit system has discovered that the hybrid diesel electric buses perform better with more efficiency on stop-and-go routes, rather than longer haul routes that seem to tax the batteries and offer less savings. The cost of purchasing a hybrid bus figures in heavily in the decision to keep them or go back to the old diesel buses. While a tax credit of $10,000 is offered for the purchase of a hybrid diesel electric bus, that’s does little to offset the difference of $225,000 per bus.
But B. C. Transit does intend to stick with the technology for now, as hybrid diesel electric buses come down in price, and benefit from new lighter weight and more powerful battery technology. After another year, they’ll determine whether to purchase more hybrid diesel buses, and how many to purchase.
Another big company about to use hybrid diesel electric technology is the United Parcel Service (UPS). In 2009 they’re planning to purchase 7 trucks using the hybrid hydraulic diesel technology, with the first two running Minneapolis, Minnesota. UPS already has what’s called its “Green Fleet,” a 1600-vehicle strong set of UPS trucks that are either electric hybrids or run on natural gas. These will be the first hybrid diesel electric trucks they’ve tested, in the hopes of using more.
Hydraulic hybrids pull energy from the braking system just as electric hybrids do, but a hydraulic pump pulls the energy instead of an electric motor, and replaces the transmission and drive shaft, making for easier stop-and-go movement and accelerating. Because UPS trucks generally stop between 80 and 100 times per day and run in urban areas with multiple stop lights, the hydraulic hybrid diesel technology seems to be a perfect fit, and may start the trend to use hydraulic technology in hybrid diesel electric cars.
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Originally posted 2008-12-08 18:43:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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