COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

While the media focus on hybrids has been primarily on cars and light trucks there is another vehicle segment that appears well suited to hybrid technology – light and medium duty commercial vehicles. The stop and go drive cycle of commercial fleet vehicles such as delivery vans are ideal uses for maximizing the advantages of hybrids.

Commercial Fleet Market
Commercial fleet markets are quite different than the general mass consumer market in which a consumer purchases a vehicle from a selection of “off the shelf” models from different manufacturers. In the commercial market fleets specify key features of their vehicle requirements such as engine type and size, drive train, body type, chassis and frame suppliers, interiors, body type, etc to match their fleet's needs.

In commercial fleets, vehicles are an investment that have capital and operating costs for which maximum returns are required. Life cycle cost is often the prime determinant in decisions by fleets as to which vehicles they will purchase. Typically, commercial fleet vehicles are characterized by low fuel efficiency and high mileage. In this context hybrids offer an interesting investment option as the rate of return can be readily calculated based on fuel savings vs. net incremental capital cost.  Determine payback periods using the Life Cycle Cost Calculator.

Transit Buses
One specialized commercial vehicle which utilizes hybrid options is transit buses.  The Cities of New York and Seattle have both made significant commitments to hybrid buses.

Orion Bus Industries, a subsidiary of DaimlerCrysler, will be delivering 325 Orion VII buses powered by the BAE SYSTEMS HybriDrive™ propulsion system to the City of New York.  The Orion VII buses recently passed the tough New York City Bus Reliability test. The tests, considered to be the toughest in the transit industry, involved operating the bus every day for 21 hours a day on a route through the Bronx.

Starting fall 2004 General Motors will be delivering 235 of its new hybrid/diesel buses to the City of Seattle. BC Transit has recently ordered 6 buses using the same hybrid technology for its fleets in Victoria and Kelowna. 

 

Source: King County Metro Online

View King County information on Seattle's new articulated hybrid diesel-electric buses.

Commercial Hybrid Vehicles
Commercial vehicles that are required to do a lot of stop and go driving are considered an ideal fit for hybrid technology. Delivery companies in an attempt to obtain a competitive advantage have invested in developing hybrid delivery trucks. 

Azure Dynamics is a British Columbia based firm that is a hybrid systems integrator working with fleets and vehicle and component suppliers to deliver customized series hybrid powertrains for specific fleets. Azure’s software manages the complex relationships between an engine, electric motor and battery.

Azure's technology allows for the use of a smaller battery pack and smaller engine resulting in significant cost savings to the vehicle purchaser and reduced emissions and energy consumption.

View Video on Purolator Courier

Azure Powered Purolator Courier Delivery Truck.  Source: Azure Dynamics

Azure is working with a variety of clients to develop other vehicle types such as the London Taxi and has announced a contract to supply Purolator Courier with several thousand delivery-type vans.

Eaton is another company that has developed a hybrid power train for delivery trucks.  Federal Express is demonstrating this hybrid technology in their E700 delivery trucks as part of a phased acquisition program to place thousands of hybrids trucks in their U.S. fleets.

Fuel Efficiency
Independent testing using three different test methods on a Canada Post delivery truck converted to use the Azure system show clearly that fuel savings are impressive over that vehicle’s drive cycle.

The Houston Advanced Research Center  researched the fuel consumption and emission reduction  potential of the prototype diesel/electric hybrid commercial pickup/delivery vehicles (PUDs) that are being developed by Eaton and FedEx.