Maybe relatively stable fuel prices are to blame. Or maybe the blame lies with certain government incentive programs. In any case, while hybrid diesel-electric trucks are gaining traction in China and Europe, they’re not quite taking off in North America.
A few early birds aside, hybrid trucks came on-scene in 2002 when Eaton, a Michigan-based manufacturer of power-management systems, announced plans to supply hybrid power-train technology products for commercial vehicles.
The following year, FedEx ordered 20 hybrid delivery trucks, and the power utility Commonwealth Edison tested diesel-electric bucket trucks soon afterwards.
Then, Paccar announced its own fuel-efficiency plans. And in 2009, Kenworth Truck Company, a Paccar subsidiary, introduced a prototype hybrid mechanic’s service truck, the T270, at World of Concrete in Las Vegas.
The T270’s stated goal was to enhance fuel economy by up to 50 percent. Powered by a 260-horsepower Paccar PX-6 engine, the T270 included a transmission-mounted motor and generator, a frame-mounted 340-volt battery pack, and a power management system designed to juice a 10,000-pound hydraulic crane.
Momentum lost as market takes hit
Hybrids seemed to be gaining momentum. By 2010, Eaton said more than 2,400 of its hybrid packages — with transmissions, motors, generator controllers, clutch actuators and software controls — were in use in a variety of trucks in the U.S.
With rising fuel prices and growing scientific consensus linking fossil fuel consumption to climate change, the hybrid market seemed a no-brainer. Frost & Sullivan, a global market research firm, forecast 222,000 hybrid-electric vehicles across Europe and North America by 2016.
However, the market took a major hit last year. In September, citing a lack of market demand, Eaton discontinued North American production and sales.
Jim Michels, manager of global business communications with Eaton’s vehicle group in Galesburg, Mich., says demand began to drop when the U.S. government eliminated a financial credits program and diesel prices stabilized.
“We’ve seen the hybrid market in North America contract quite a bit over the past few years,” Michels says.
Still, Eaton continues production and distribution in China and across Europe, and Michels wouldn’t rule out resuming North American production should market demand occur.
“We can certainly crank up our manufacturing to meet demand, but from a business standpoint if you don’t have a market to supply there’s no business case to stay active,” Michels said.
Kenworth, which relied on Eaton as a supplier and had modest success selling T270 systems for freight and delivery vehicles, including more than 600 to Coca-Cola, stopped offering the option when Eaton withdrew from North America.
In terms of mechanic’s service trucks specifically, hybrid amounted to little more than a footnote for Kenworth.
“I never really heard of it going anywhere,” spokesperson Jeff Parietti says. “I think one customer bought one, but I don’t think we had any others.”
Calling the diesel-electric hybrid “ancient history,” Parietti says almost all Kenworth truck sales are now diesel.
Hino still in the game
Still, there have been some gains. In California, Sonoma County acquired a Hino 195H hybrid-electric service truck in September, with technology designed to cut fuel consumption by 30 per cent.
Glenn Ellis, vice-president of marketing, dealer operations and product planning for Hino Trucks in Novi, Mich., says the Toyota-owned company remains very much in the game.
Ellis says Hino has sold more than 1,000 class 5 cab-over-engine hybrids trucks since launching these in late 2013. The majority have been delivery and towing vehicles, with only a handful — one to two per cent — mechanic’s service trucks.
One factor that’s helped Hino straddle the hybrid market has been its close relationship with Toyota. Batteries are manufactured by a Toyota subsidiary and many components are shared.
“We actually introduced our first hybrid in 1991, and Toyota introduced the Prius in 1997, so they utilize a lot of our technology,” Ellis says. “We’re able to take the volume and economy of scale with the mass production of (consumer) hybrids that Toyota has into the commercial (truck) market.”
Ellis’ optimism is further fuelled by growing urbanization and efforts by regional air districts to promote green transportation.
“More and more cities and states are investing in clean technology and incentive programs,” Ellis says, adding that emission regulations also play a role.
A case in point is the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Spokesperson Scott Briasco says the utility added a hybrid aerial bucket truck to its 115-strong diesel fleet last year following a $50,000 grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which covered the system’s extra cost.
“We’ve also ordered three plug-in hybrid digger derricks,” Briasco says. “We’re hoping they work and are reliable and that we’ll be getting more of these in our fleet — that’s our plan.”
These vehicles, with hybrid components supplied by Odyne Systems of Waukesha, Wisc., may not be the kind of full-fledged service trucks that carry a crane, but the bucket reaches 60 feet, high enough to hoist workers atop hydro poles, and the truck houses compartments for an array of specialized tools.
Furthermore, Briasco says, the trucks’ routines are fairly similar. “The concept of the plug-in hybrid is that when it gets to the job site you turn the truck off and the batteries are large enough to operate the hydraulic system and provide service for an entire day without the engine coming on. Then, after a full day’s work, it comes back to the service yard and we plug it in and charge the batteries back up.”
Briasco says the hybrid system operates the climate controls inside the vehicle cab, provides some launch assistance, and offers regenerative braking which feeds power back to the battery.
Hybrids best when mileage soars
Doyle Sumrall, who manages the Green Truck Association for the National Truck Equipment Association, says hybrid diesel-electric technology delivered on the industry’s promise of a 20 to 25 per cent reduction in fuel use, but service trucks generally don’t log enough miles to warrant the extra cost.
And, he says, because natural gas prices are low enough to sustain its use as an alternate fuel, fleets have started moving in that direction. Furthermore, Sumrall says, new diesel engines with improved fuel economy have also come on the market.
“They’ve tweaked things around and they’re getting a little bit better,” he says. “A lot of factors have come to play.”
Hino’s Glenn Ellis points out that service trucks in urban areas aren’t necessarily the same beasts as their rural brethren working, say, in the oil patch of rural North Dakota. Hybrids, he says, might be less feasible in remote areas where jobs are more demanding.
“They have bigger requirements for large air compressors and for lubes and oils that they carry,” Ellis says. “Our truck is a little bit small for large mining-type and service applications, but for a city that has buses and other equipment to service, it makes perfect sense.”
Saul Chernos is freelance writer based in Toronto.