Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Allison Transmission, and Peterbilt premiered the first utility material handler truck equipped with the new Allison hybrid H 3000 system for commercial trucks at the Electric Utility Fleet Manager Conference (EUFMC) vehicle expo.

The H 3000 features parallel-hybrid architecture that supplies blended power from a conventional diesel engine with an Allison automatic transmission, a powerful electric motor with a regenerative braking kinetic energy recovery system, and stored energy from batteries.

This latest generation propulsion package achieves the highest energy efficiency and makes it perfectly suited for vocations with frequent stops and starts such as utility, distribution, refuse, utility and shuttle bus applications. Fuel savings are projected to be up to 25 percent, depending on vocation and duty cycle.

PG&E owns and operates 412 material handers which are used to inspect, repair and maintain the company’s vast network of transmission and distribution power lines, and with an anticipated fuel savings of 25 percent, the company would save 139,279 gallons per year with this technology.