Virginia Tech and RIDE Inc. are working together to develop a hydraulic pump/motor for hydraulic hybrids based on the RIDE (Rotational Inertial Dampening Engine) technology. (Earlier post.) Al Kornhauser, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, who specializes in internal combustion engines, fuel cells, and other... Read more →

Peterbilt Motors, a division of PACCAR, will begin full production of its Model 330 and Model 335 medium-duty hybrid vehicles in summer 2008, and of its Model 320 Hydraulic Launch Assist (HLA) vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2008. (Earlier post.) Both the Peterbilt Model 330 and Model 335 Hybrid... Read more →

Rexroth hydrostatic regenerative braking system (HRB) reduces fuel consumption by up to 25% and can be retrofitted as an add-on system even in vehicles without hydraulics. Click to enlarge. The members of CALSTART’s Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) Refuse Working Group have selected the supplier team of Crane Carrier/ISE/Bosch Rexroth... Read more →

UQM Technologies’ newly introduced 150 kW (201 hp) permanent magnet propulsion motor—the PowerPhase 150—has been selected as part of a collaborative advanced hybrid electric bus development program being performed by the Flint, Michigan, Mass Transportation Authority (MTA), Kettering University, Michigan State University and Transportation Techniques LLC. This new propulsion system... Read more →

Chassis layout for an EPA/Parker Hannifin Class 6 hydraulic series hybrid yard hostler. Click to enlarge. Parker Hannifin Corporation and FedEx Ground, a unit of FedEx Corp. will test a Class 6 vehicle employing hybrid hydraulic technology that seeks to improve fuel economy by more than 50% and significantly reduce... Read more →

As part of the defense funding included in the conference report for HR 3222 and approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 400 to 15, Eaton will receive $2 million to develop advanced digital hydraulic hybrid drive systems for US Army vehicles. Eaton will conduct the research... Read more →

Chassis layout for the hydraulic series hybrid yard hostler. Click to enlarge. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a project to develop hydraulic series hybrid systems for Class 6 port yard hostlers—the heavy-duty diesels that move goods and products from ships to trucks at ports. EPA’s hydraulic series-hybrid... Read more →

The core of the system: the Hybrid Drive Unit. Click to enlarge. Eaton Corporation has begun commercial production of its medium-duty hybrid power systems. (Earlier post.) These will be ready for customer deliveries in 2008 on the chassis of several major North American commercial vehicle manufacturers, including International Truck and... Read more →

Cutaway drawing of the Sanderson engine. Sanderson Engine Development Company (SED), which is developing a new engine that allows the conversion between reciprocating and rotational motion without the use of a conventional crankshaft, has been awarded three patents on critical elements of its technology. The patents cover a piston assembly,... Read more →

The Folsom 50/100hp CityCar CVT. Folsom Technologies has developed a line of hydromechanical continuously variable transmissions (CVT) that are configurable either as a standalone CVT or as the CVT component of a hydraulic hybrid system. At the New York International Auto Show, the company displayed its 50/100hp CityCar CVT. This... Read more →

The 6th annual meeting of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF), held this week in San Diego, California, provided an indication of the increasing momentum behind commercialization efforts for a variety of hybrid technologies for a range of truck fleet applications. The annual meeting was the group’s largest yet, with... Read more →

Basic design of a free-piston engine as generator (not the engine modeled). Click to enlarge. Source: Prof. Valeri Golovitchev, Chalmers Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, are exploring the development of a two-stroke, free–piston compression-ignited engine employing uniflow scavenging as a genset in hybrid applications. Free-piston engines (engines without... Read more →

A Kalmar yard tractor. The US EPA’s West Coast Collaborative, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are collaborating to develop and test hybrid technology yard tractors for use on container terminals. Three of the hybrid yard hostlers will be operated and tested for six months... Read more →

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded funds for the development of an Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CEFP). CEFP’s mission is to develop compact, low-cost, next-generation, fluid-powered devices—systems that use pressurized liquids or gases to transmit power. Researchers intend to develop a range of new... Read more →

The UPS hydraulic hybrid The US EPA and its industry partners today unveiled the world’s first diesel-hydraulic series-hybrid delivery truck. (Earlier post.) The hydraulic hybrid offers an improvement in fuel economy of up to 60-70% and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 40% or more compared to a conventional diesel-powered... Read more →