March 10, 2010
St Louis, MO - Despite the national recession, momentum in the medium- and heavy-duty hybrid truck and bus market continues to grow and expand in product type, according to a panel of experts speaking at the CALSTART-NTEA Green Truck Summit in St. Louis. Dimitri Kazarinoff, VP and General Manager of Eaton Hybrid Power Systems, said that last year his company increased their system sales by five times over the previous year and now have hybrid systems operating on four continents with 35 million miles of experience. The panel noted that hybrid system costs are dropping, but that early market incentives were still critically important to maintain momentum while production volumes are still low. Darren Gosbee, Director of Hybrid Strategy and Execution for Navistar (International Trucks), said he felt incentives for hybrids were very important through about 2014, but that the industry can stand on its own by then without incentives. Ed Greif, VP Engineering for Bosch Rexroth, noted that hydraulic hybrids are now moving to market, and that refuse applications were a very promising first application but that other applications, like parcel delivery, also so great promise. Panelists shared the idea that there will be no single technology "winner" in hybrids but we will need a range of approches. They also noted growing interest in hybrids for shuttle bus and regional heavy-haul applications, and the growth of next generation capabilities, including electrified components, reduction in energy storage costs, plug-in and all-electric vehicles.
February 11, 2010
Burbank is seeing immediate benefits from the switch to CNG, with savings from reduced fuel costs—CNG costs up to $1 less per gallon than gasoline and diesel fuels. Noise reduction from the quieter-running CNG engines is another benefit to the City and its citizens…
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January 28, 2010
Two demonstrator vehicles are to be produced incorporating Ricardo’s EBDI engine technology, showing that even for larger vehicles, extreme optimization of ethanol combustion can enable engine downsizing of the order of 50 percent and still deliver substantial fuel economy and CO2 emission improvements from a cost-effective, high performance, inherently low emission powertrain...
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January 28, 2010
The buses emit no smog-creating or greenhouse gases from their tailpipes. Also recently unveiled was B.C. Transit's new Whistler Transit Centre, which has the world's largest hydrogen fuelling station. Shirley Bond, B.C.'s transportation minister, called the Games "the greenest Olympic Games ever"...
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January 28, 2010
The trucks will certainly cost the company more up front, said Mr. Gold. But trucks in this size category go only seven or eight miles per gallon of diesel fuel, and that comes to about 50 cents a mile; the Smith truck will go close to mile on a kilowatt-hour, which costs on average about 11 cents but can be bought at night for less...
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