UPS diesel hybrid delivery vehicles improved the on-road fuel economy by 28.9% resulting in a 15%improvement in total cost per mile, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revealed in a recent
report.Despite considerable fuel economy, UPS diesel hybrid vans maintain similar reliability andoperational performance as compared to conventional vehicles, according to the test results.
The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) performed a 12-month evaluation of sixof these hybrid vans at a UPS location in Phoenix. Funded by the DOE’s Advanced Vehicle TestingActivity (AVTA), NREL’s Fleet Test & Evaluation (FT&E) team collected and analysed fueleconomy, maintenance and other vehicle performance data from UPS’s first generation hybrid dieselstep delivery vans powered by the electric hybrid propulsion system from Eaton Corp.
Robert Hall, UPS director of maintenance and engineering, said he hopes the evaluation willspeed up the market acceptance of hybrid diesel systems. “NREL’s report on the performance of ourhybrid delivery vehicles is helping make this type of energy-efficient vehicle a standard in theindustry.”
The Eaton hybrid system was developed in part under a previous 33-month contract from DOE’sAdvanced Heavy Hybrid Propulsion System programme worth $7.5 million.
“Having provided funding for the development of the Eaton hybrid system, DOE was eager toparticipate in testing the system in a commercial fleet,” said Lee Slezak, DOE’s AVTA programmemanager. “Our goal is to help develop more efficient vehicle technologies and then document theiron-road performance.”
