July 23, 2008
Manufacturers, Hauling Companies Look to Greener Fuel
PHOENIX – Now
that hybrids have a firm green foothold on the market for cars and light
trucks, they are moving into medium- and heavy-duty trucks. And while they are
still expensive, they are getting more economical by the day as diesel prices
continue at or near record levels, according to www.azcentral.com.
Just about every manufacturer of medium- to heavy-duty
trucks, including majors like Freightliner LLC, Navistar International Corp.,
Kenworth Truck Co., and Peterbilt Motors Co., are developing or producing
larger hybrid diesel-electric trucks, said Robert Clarke, president of the
Truck Manufacturers Association in Washington,
D.C. Several companies began
producing them this year.
Hybrid diesel-electric trucks are expensive, but
manufacturers say the vehicles can save 30 to 60 percent on fuel costs,
depending on how they are used. They also reduce diesel emissions and should
help quiet truck and bus noises. Dealers expect the costs to come down in time.
Hybrids have become popular when it comes to cars, pickup
trucks, and SUVs. They made up about two percent of the total U.S. vehicle market last year, but U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent last year from 2006, said
R.L. Polk & Co.
Clarke said the diesel-electric technology is ideal for
delivery and garbage trucks and buses and other stop-and-go urban uses because
the more the vehicles stop, the more their batteries get charged. The
technology has been around for some time, but mostly for mining and military
uses. Like cars, hybrid trucks rely more on electric power at low speeds.
Clarke also said it’s tough to get hybrid trucks on the
market.
“The truck market is very, very different from the car market
in that the volumes are very low,” he said, according to www.azcentral.com. “We
sell only on the order of a couple of hundred thousand commercial trucks a year
compared to 15 million light-duty cars and trucks. So the economies of scale
are nowhere near.”
In addition to high diesel prices, the heightened interest
in being green could help hybrid trucks.
Because hybrids are ideal for utilities, spokesmen for
several cities, including Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale,
said that they are watching the development of these vehicles with interest but
haven’t committed to buying any. Allied Waste Industries Inc., a nationwide
garbage hauler and recycler based in Phoenix,
is also interested.
Waste Management Inc., of Houston, the nation’s largest
waste-management company that does business in the Phoenix area, has purchased
four diesel-electric hybrids and is testing them in northern Texas to see how
practical they are and whether they do what their manufacturers claim.
One big advantage the hybrids offer is that they are quieter
because they can idle on electric power. Electric motors could be used when
workers are lifted in buckets to work on power lines or streetlights.
The diesel-electric hybrids are just one of the green
options at which manufacturers are looking. In addition to making regular
diesel trucks more efficient, less polluting and quieter every year, they are
starting to look at producing hydraulic diesels and trucks that use liquefied
natural gas instead of diesel.
With automakers shifting toward hybrids, though, truck
manufacturers are expected to follow.