UPS Adds Hydraulic Hybrids to Alternative-Fuel Vehicle Fleet
UPS Inc. has assigned 50 hydraulic hybrid trucks to delivery routes in the Chicago area as the largest package delivery company continues to deploy alternative-fuel vehicles.
Atlanta-based UPS is converting Freightliner MT-55 trucks whose gasoline engines are being modified using fueling systems from Lightning Hybrids, a Colorado company whose product also was deployed in a 2014 test.
According to Lightning Hybrids, the hybrid technology allows UPS to use lower-cost gasoline engines to reduce emissions. UPS ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
“We are pleased that our hydraulic hybrid is part of UPS’s ‘Rolling Laboratory,’ which represents world-class sustainable vehicle technologies,” said Tim Reeser, CEO of Lightning Hybrids. ‘This order, along with other larger customer orders, has allowed us to reduce our price substantially, further improving [return on investment], making it viable, even in cases without government subsidies.”
Part of the funding for the project has come from Drive Clean Chicago, which supports wider use of alternative vehicles in the region. According to Lightning Hybrids, fuel efficiency improved 18% to 34%, compared with conventional power during the test.
Loveland, Colorado-based Lightning Hybrids said a hydraulic system is applied to the driveline to regenerate braking energy, and stored energy is used to power the vehicle.
