Mack Expands Test of Hybrid Trucks
Mack Trucks said it was developing an additional prototype of heavy-duty zero-emissions trucks for evaluation in Southern California, which has some of the worst air quality in the nation.
Its second diesel-electric hybrid drayage truck provides more power in the zero emission mode and uses an advanced geofencing algorithm compared with the initial prototype, Mack said.
The additional vehicle will begin service in 2017, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based truck maker said.
The first Mack drayage truck was part of a South Coast Air Quality Management District-sponsored project in 2016 and combines a Mack MP7 clean diesel engine with a proprietary parallel hybrid system and lithium-ion battery pack. A drayage fleet at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles is currently testing it, the company said.
It said the geofencing capabilities — similar to those enabled by its GuardDog Connect telematics platform — establish a virtual perimeter as determined by GPS coordinates. The onboard hardware can then identify each time the truck passes through the perimeter and determine the appropriate mode of power.
Mack is a unit of the Sweden-based Volvo Group.
