 News Release
Contact: Bill
Van Amburg, WestStart-CALSTART
For Release: May 18, 2004
626/744-5600; bvanamburg@weststart.org
SUPPLIER TEAM SELECTED BY 'HTUF' UTILITY FLEETS FOR NATIONAL
DEPLOYMENT OF ADVANCED HYBRID TRUCKS
EATON AND INTERNATIONAL TRUCK AND ENGINE WILL BUILD 20-PLUS
MEDIUM-DUTY HYBRID TRUCKS FOR 13 UTILITIES IN NATION'S LARGEST
HYBRID LAUNCH
Kalamazoo, MI - Utility and state truck fleets working together
in WestStart's Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) program have selected
the supplier team of Eaton Corporation and International Truck and
Engine Corporation to build more than 20 advanced, pre-production
hybrid-electric work trucks for national deployment and assessment.
The trucks promise to improve fuel economy an impressive 40-60%,
provide engine-off work site operation, reduce maintenance costs and
further cut emissions from this class of truck. Coupled to that, the
trucks offer a "dual use" benefit that supports both
commercial truck needs and emerging military needs for efficient
drivelines.
The deployment represents the largest effort to date in the U.S.
and shows the growing momentum toward advanced, fuel-saving hybrid
technology in medium and heavy-duty work trucks. The selection
announcement comes during the national meeting of HTUF in Kalamazoo,
Michigan.
"This project takes hybrid truck systems to the next level
of commercialization," said John Boesel, President and CEO of
WestStart-CALSTART, which operates the Hybrid Truck Users Forum
program in a partnership with the U.S. Army's National Automotive
Center (NAC). "These are not prototype trucks. They are the
early production versions of what we expect will be commercially
available trucks in the next two to four years."
The national Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) is a joint program
between WestStart-CALSTART and the NAC to speed the
commercialization of hybrid drivelines that could be used in both
military and commercial vehicles. The HTUF program enjoys the
participation of over 50 fleets representing roughly one million
trucks. HTUF has worked with fleets and suppliers to identify the
best, first market segments for hybrid trucks and has organized
fleet Working Groups around those applications. The best uses are
generally for urban work trucks, especially those with heavy
stop-and-go or urban driving, and also those with high engine idling
times.
HTUF's Utility Working Group developed performance specifications
for a hybrid "bucket" or trouble service truck, including
a 50% increase in fuel economy, reliability equal to today, the
ability to perform repair work with the engine shut down and the
ability to generate electricity for emergency and other use. Twelve
core fleets committed to purchase pre-production trucks that met
these requirements. A nationwide request for proposals was sent to
truck makers and suppliers, leading to a detailed selection process
of the finalists that ended with the selection of the Eaton and
International team.
"These trucks make sense because the users themselves
developed the requirements," said George Survant, director of
fleet services for Florida Power and Light Company and chair of the
HTUF Utility Working Group. "We spent considerable time jointly
assessing what kind of performance, fuel economy gains and new
capabilities will make a business case for our operations. If these
trucks now prove out these capabilities and costs, we fleets are
prepared to start buying them in the coming years as our replacement
vehicle."
HTUF is a process to speed commercialization, not a research
program. Therefore, participating fleets will pay for the base
trucks and agree to place them into operation for assessment. Fleets
themselves will pay more than $3.5-million; HTUF will assist them by
providing additional funding to help buy-down the cost of the
advanced drivelines. Unlike development programs, this is a
pre-production deployment of next generation trucks that will be
produced on International's assembly line.
The main fleets committed to the deployment purchase beyond
Florida Power & Light Company include: Alabama Power; American
Electric Power; Baltimore Gas & Electric; Duke Energy; Entergy;
Georgia Power; Hydro Quebec; Missouri Department of Transportation;
Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Pepco; Southern California
Edison; and TXU Electric Delivery.
WestStart-CALSTART has been playing a national role as
coordinator and facilitator of efforts to advance hybrid technology
in the trucking industry. As with hybrid passenger cars, hybrid
technology can significantly improve fuel economy and reduce harmful
emissions from the nation's medium- and heavy-duty trucks. However,
truck hybrids are potentially emerging as a U.S.-led technology:
there are already more than 10 different leading U.S. manufacturers
of heavy-duty hybrid propulsion systems.
The program also directly supports the Army's goal of developing
future trucks that will be more energy efficient, require fewer
support logistics and be capable of providing remote power
generation. These HTUF trucks are very similar in size and driveline
performance to the most common class of Army support vehicles,
giving the Army valuable early data on performance and acceptance.
"For the Army to get the future truck capabilities we need,
at the costs we want, there needs to be commercial production
volumes and a strong U.S. commercial industry and technology base to
make them," notes Dennis Wend, executive director of the NAC.
"We support HTUF because it helps bring together commercial and
military truck efforts."
WestStart-CALSTART is the nation's leading advanced
transportation technology industry organization working to support
and accelerate the growth of companies developing clean and energy
efficient transportation technologies. Over 115 companies and
agencies are WestStart-CALSTART participating organizations. Its
California operating division does business as CALSTART. For more
information on this non-profit organization, visit www.weststart.org.
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