EPA Offers Grants to Fleets to Help Buy ‘Greener’ Trucks

This story appears in the March 23 print edition of Transport Topics.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week launched a program that could give fleet owners up to 25% of a new vehicle’s cost for every diesel truck it replaces with a diesel-electric hybrid, liquefied natural gas or other alternate-fueled engine.

Suzanne Ackerman, EPA spokeswoman, said the grants are funded by the $156 million National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, part of the federal economic stimulus legislation.

The grants are in addition to federal tax credits of $6,000 to $12,000 per vehicle.

Eaton Corp., Kalamazoo, Mich., maker of hybrid power systems used by four major truck manufacturers, said that it has established a program to assist diesel truck fleet owners applying for the EPA grants, which require proof that an existing diesel truck has been taken out of service for each new hybrid purchased.

Also last week, Kenworth Truck Co., one of Paccar’s heavy-duty truck subsidiaries, said it would help customers buying their LNG trucks to apply for the EPA grants.

Daimler Trucks North America and Paccar Inc. both make trucks that use liquefied natural gas rather than diesel fuel. The engines are from Cummins Inc., modified by Westport Innovations Inc. to run on LNG.

Dontia Warren, Eaton market development manager, told Transport Topics the company’s hybrid system adds $40,000 to $50,000 to the price of a truck but that purchasers “can make up the premium over a five-year period by combining the . . . funding with the IRS tax credit and the fuel and operating savings.”

Joe Suchecki, spokesman for the Engine Manufacturers Association, told TT, “EPA will award grants on a competitive basis that depends on several priorities, which they outline in the program.”

Suchecki said private fleets cannot directly apply for the grants, “so a program to assist fleets in identifying eligible partners and help on the applications will be helpful.”

Warren said that Eaton has been working with industry experts, nonprofit organizations and professional grant writers to help fleet owners complete grant applications.

“If applicants fail to get the grant, they don’t have to go through with the purchase,” Warren said.

“There is a sense of urgency to our effort, since the submission period for EPA regional applications begins March 17 and ends April 27,” Warren said. “Our goal is to identify all of our customers who qualify and want to take advantage of this opportunity by no later than April 1.”

The grants are made to nonprofit organizations that have jurisdiction over air quality for projects that reduce diesel emissions, Eaton said. The nonprofit organizations submit applications to an EPA regional office.

Paccar Inc.’s two subsidiaries, Peterbilt Motors Co. and Kenworth Truck Co.; Navistar Inc.’s International Trucks; and Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner all offer diesel-electric hybrids in Classes 6-7, including Class 7 tractors, using Eaton hybrid systems.

Mack Trucks Inc. has said it will introduce a Class 8 vocational hybrid in 2010, but Volvo Trucks North America has not announced hybrid models, spokesman Jim McNamara said. Volvo uses its own hybrid system.

The truck manufacturers’ hybrids combine a regular diesel engine with an Eaton integral transmission-mounted motor/generator with a frame-mounted 340-volt, lithium-ion battery pack.

In braking, the generator built into the transmission charges the battery, and the truck draws on the battery to drive the electric motor used for acceleration or for assisting the diesel engine.

Powertrain controls monitor driving conditions and automatically select the optimum power mode, switching among electric-only, combined diesel and electric, and diesel-only power modes.

The hybrids work best in stop-and-go traffic, where constant braking builds up electrical power.

In its statement, Eaton said that commercial vehicle fleets with its hybrid systems have accumulated more than 12 million miles in revenue service to date.

“Delivery vehicles with the Eaton system are being used by companies such as FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola and Pepsi,” Eaton stated. “Work trucks with Eaton hybrid power are also in service at dozens of utility and telecom companies across North America.”

Eaton said the benefits of its hybrid system include fuel savings ranging from 30% to 60% with similar decreases in emissions, extended brake life and reductions of up to 87% in idle times during work site operations.

Suzanne Ackerman, EPA spokeswoman, said details could be found at www.epa.gov/otaq/eparecovery.

The IRS Web site for tax credits is: www.irs.gov/businesses/article/0,,id=175456,00.html.