FuelPub.com |

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.

And while hybrid vehicles are no recent creation, the stars have seemingly aligned for this long-awaited technology, as rising fuel prices are driving up demand and OEMs are responding.

“You work on technologies, hopefully in advance of when they’re going to be desperately needed, and fleets are certainly looking for some relief,” says Bill Van Amburg, senior vice-president of CALSTART, a non-profit organization that works with the public and private sectors to develop advanced transportation technologies.

“There is no magic bullet or one solution, but hybrid really has some great fits, particularly in urban work trucks. It’s a nice alignment with people saying, ‘How do I address not only my own bottom line, but how do I also start to manage my emissions?’”

Production Schedule

With some hybrids already on the road and others in production, more options are becoming available. In December, Navistar’s International® launched its assembly-line production of Class 6 and 7 DuraStar™ hybrids, Kenworth and Peterbilt have begun production on similar sized-trucks this summer, and Freightliner is not far behind.

Later this year, Peterbilt will begin production of a hydraulic hybrid refuse truck. Van Amburg says Eaton features two different brands of hybrids, including the hydraulic version which uses an accumulator to store braking energy and then releases it back into the driveline using hydraulic pressure rather than a battery.

“Those are the two main ways you’re seeing hybrids,” he says. “The hydraulic is a little bit behind electric in development, but may prove itself a really good fit for certain applications.”

The next step? Perhaps surprisingly, heavy regional applications, Van Amburg says, even up into some Class 8 long-haul trucks.