ATLANTA – UPS has just announced it has ordered 200 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) — the largest commercial order of such trucks by any company — in addition to another 300 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles for its U.S. delivery fleet, according to the company.

The purchase of the 500 additional vehicles means the UPS alternative fuel fleet will grow 30 percent from 1,718 to 2,218 low-carbon vehicles.

"Alternative fuel research and development is just one of the ways that UPS is mitigating climate change risks," said Bob Stoffel, UPS corporate sustainability officer. "We also are focused on aggressive conservation programs and improving network efficiency to cut fuel use."

The company's "green fleet" operates in the United States, Germany, France, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom and has traveled nearly 144 million miles since 2000. The fleet includes electric, hybrid electric, CNG, liquefied natural gas and propane-powered vehicles. UPS is also continuing work with the Environmental Protection Agency on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle.

The 200 hybrid electric vehicles will be deployed in 2009 and join 50 HEV delivery trucks already in operation. The 200 trucks are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually and reduce CO₂ emissions by 1,786 metric tons each year. That is the equivalent of removing almost 100 conventional UPS trucks from the road for a year.

The HEV's hybrid power system allows UPS to save on fuel and pollution-causing emissions. A battery pack, motor/generator and power control system are added, which allow electric power to be fed into the powertrain when conditions demand it, providing further savings.

The HEVs also use what is known as regenerative braking, meaning the energy produced in stopping the moving vehicle is captured and returned to the battery system as electrical energy. The efficient, computer-controlled combination of clean diesel and electric power, and regenerative braking produces dramatic improvements in fuel savings and emissions reductions.

The 300 CNG vehicles will be deployed later this year and join more than 800 such vehicles already in use in the U.S. CNG vehicles run on natural gas, a cost-effective, clean-burning and readily available fuel. These vehicles are expected to yield a 20-percent reduction in emissions over the cleanest diesel engines available today.

The CNG/HEV vehicle order follows the April 2008 deployment of 167 new CNG vehicles in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Ontario, San Ramon, Fresno and Sacramento. In addition, UPS added 50 next-generation hybrid electric delivery trucks in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix in May 2007.

The chassis for the CNG and HEV trucks are being purchased from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation, with Eaton Corporation supplying the hybrid power system for the HEVs. The truck bodies are identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that now comprise the UPS fleet with additional script markings that will identify them as CNG and HEV vehicles.