Hybrid Hype Shifts Into High Gear
Wednesday, December 27, 2006JEFF YASTINE: Another area expected to do well next year: alternative and hybrid fuel vehicles and it's not just consumers who are using them. Some utilities are trying to curb energy consumption, as well. They're using diesel electric hybrid trucks that not only save fuel on the road, but on the job, as well. Midwest bureau chief Diane Eastabrook went for a test drive with one of these energy-saving vehicles.
DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Comed supervisor Art Becker heads out to inspect electric power lines in a suburban Chicago neighborhood. On this day, electricity will power his trip.
ART BECKER, SUPERVISOR, COMED: Right now, we are in hybrid drive. As you can tell, the diesel is idling. RPMs are not increasing as I step on the gas.
EASTABROOK: Comed, a division of Exelon Corporation, is one of about a dozen utilities now testing diesel-electric hybrid trucks. Like hybrid cars, these hybrid trucks generate energy through braking and store it as electricity. The electricity propels the vehicle just as it does in hybrid cars, but in these trucks, the power has another purpose. It also runs the bucket and lets the diesel engine to rest.
BECKER: As you'll notice in hybrid power, the noise reduction is quite dramatic over the engine noise. It's great in residential areas.
EASTABROOK: Since utilities do a lot of stopping and starting to make repairs, they're ideal users of hybrids. Comed says this truck over the road is about 20 percent more fuel efficient than a conventional one. The company says the fuel savings is even more dramatic when the operation of the bucket is considered. But despite their efficiency, the price tags on these vehicles remain an obstacle. International Truck and Engine Corporation manufacturers the hybrids, which currently cost up to 60 percent more than a conventional truck. International President DT Kapur says the company is working to make the trucks more cost effective for buyers.
D.T. KAPUR, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL TRUCK & ENGINE CORP.: I think the ones that keep their trucks longer will get the most benefit because they will be able to pay it back in four or five years and then keep the truck and gain the benefits for another four or five years. So, the economics will really work for them.
EASTABROOK: And Patrick Pineau, fleet services administrator for Exelon, says International still needs to fix some minor glitches.
PATRICK PINEAU, FLEET SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR, EXELON CORPORATION: So we expected some bugs with wiring and harnesses and programming on the microprocessors and they've been very good at working those out.
EASTABROOK: International hopes to have 100 more hybrid trucks on the road next year and plans to start full production of the vehicles in 2008. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Lombard, Illinois.
