On Thursday, May 28, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) rolled out its HTUF hybrid refuse trucks in a ceremony at Flushing Meadows/Corona Park. The HTUF trucks, built by Crane Carrier, include both electric and hydraulic hybrid configurations. The electric hybrid, whose drivetrain is supplied by ISE Corporation, is a series hybrid configuration using the conventional diesel engine to drive a generator providing electricity to an ultracapacitor energy storage pack. Energy from the 120 kW generator and ultracapacitor pack is used to drive two electric motors which replace the conventional transmission. Braking energy is recovered and stored in the ultracapacitor pack for reuse upon vehicle launch.

The Crane Carrier hydraulic hybrid drivetrain is supplied by Bosch Rexroth. The Hydrostatic Regenerative Braking (HRB) system is a parallel hybrid configuration. When braking, the pump/motor acts as a pump, absorbing energy from the driveline and imparting a retarding force on the drivewheels, pumping hydraulic fluid into a nitrogen-pressurized accumulator. Upon vehicle launch, the pump/motor acts as a motor operating in conjunction with the diesel engine to provide additional torque and power to accelerate the vehicle from a stop. Fuel savings for this system are projected to be 25%.

The U.S. Army National Automotive Center (NAC) provided funding for the HTUF trucks as a part of its effort to develop commercially viable hybrid drive systems that could eventually find use in military vehicles.

Commercial success of hybrid drive systems will help reduce the cost of these more fuel efficient systems for the military and will provide U.S. troops with more effective vehicles.


The HTUF vehicles will be demonstrated and tested alongside a parallel electric hybrid refuse truck from Mack. The Mack powertrain features an integrated starter, alternator and electric motor. The system captures energy from braking, converts the energy to electricity, stores the electricity in lithium-ion batteries, and uses it to power the electric motor, which assists the MP7 diesel engine with propulsion of the truck. As a result of the hybrid operation, in which an electric motor and a diesel engine work in parallel, fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 30% and carbon emissions decreased to the same extent.

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