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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While there are some hybrid diesel electric buses and locomotives operating in the US, the long-awaited Volkswagen hybrid diesel electric Golf that’s manufactured in Europe won’t be released to United States market as they had originally planned. Volkswagen claims that the price of manufacturing the vehicle is too high.
The Dodge RAM HEV that was supposed to be released in 2005 never quite made it to the marketplace. It was supposed to have an electric diesel hybrid drive train, and would have been the first diesel electric hybrid car on the market in the United States.
So in the United States, the outlook for hybrid diesel technology is not good. Though large companies like UPS have programs in place to test hybrid diesel electric vans, and some cities like Seattle use hybrid buses, even operations like mining operations use hybrid mining trucks and some submarines are even diesel electric hybrids, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to purchase a diesel electric hybrid at your car dealership within the next few years.
The worldwide news for hybrid diesel electric cars is much better than the outlook in the United States, however. Peugeot has had diesel electric hybrid technology in the works for a while and has plans to release its PSA Peugeot Citroen to parts of Europe by 2011. The company has just recently entered into a partnership with Bosch who will provide parts of the motor and the technology to help them get the cars on the road more quickly. There is currently no plan to release this vehicle in the United States.
One can only hope that the Peugeot hybrid diesel electric vehicle proves a smashing success and that its success sparks interest in marketing the clean technology to the American consumer, or our hopes of having hybrid diesel electric cars to choose from might still be years away from being fulfilled.
Hybrid electric cars are starting to earn a market share in the United States, and given that hybrid diesel electric vehicles are being tested by companies like UPS, there is still hope. If the companies like UPS who are trying the technology to see if it lowers their costs of operation find favorable results that might help lead the way toward popularizing hybrid diesel electric cars.
Many believe that hybrid diesel electric technology is the true future of hybrid cars all over the world. While hybrid electric cars seem to be the focus of most research, a diesel engine’s ability to burn biofuel instead of petroleum based fuels makes it a much greener choice than a standard engine. The combination of hybrid electric technology with an engine capable of providing more power while running less hot and using biofuels as opposed to petroleum should be on the top of the priority stack for companies who want to provide green solutions for consumers.
Given the current worldwide economic crises, it doesn’t seem promising that car manufacturers will sink the money necessary into hybrid diesel electric technology any faster than they have so far.
Originally posted 2009-01-08 14:46:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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