Price of fuel and hybrid trucks

My first question would be do they have a viable truck out there? I mean when you look at initial cost, maint., replacement, weight, power etc.. You know, an actual apples to apples comparison. Also would the truck limit loads, ie not enough power etc., that would be harder to figure but could be equally important.

 

From what I've heard hybrid actually provides little benefit in steady-state cruising situation, especially at near full power (or at least a lot of power), which describes heavy truck operation most of the time.

It can benefit cars because it allows for smaller engine yet similar performance, because a powerful car (say an Accord with 270hp V6 engine) very rarely ever needs those power. It's there only to provide strong acceleration (0-60 mph well below 6 seconds!) Which happens rarely in real life driving. For most everyday use it'll use very few of those available power. So most of the time it'll do just fine with smaller engine, and uses the electric motor to provide extra power just when needed. Even then if you just cruise along at 65 all day long the fuel savings vs similarly engined (but non-hybrid) version will be little, if any. Now heavy trucks, from what I understand, use more of its power most of the time (uses full throttle a lot in daily driving) plus it's cruising most of the time, so hybrid will not be useful. Plus when you actually need all that power from a powerful big rig engine, say going up long, steep grade, I think that'll exhaust the battery very soon in a hybrid!

Now BMW is experimenting with a system that uses exhaust heat to create steam to run basically mini steam engine that adds to engine power. If that's ever successful, that might be more beneficial to heavy truck engine.

 

I read somewhere...don't even ask me where....(PM or PS?) about a truck that is being developed that would use the same basic drive system as a train...smaller diesel engine....hooked to a generator that would supply power to 4 independent, high speed, high torque electric motors that would more than adequately power a big truck down the road.....and the weight differential would not be very much....as you would lose the weight of the large engine, and drive axles.

For the life of me, I can't remember where it was that I read it tho.

 

Bah! Thats what they call "Here say" LOL I caught a fish this big....
I don't recall where but I saw a similar/ same artical. I try to find it and post it.

 

Pic of an experamental hybrid. Truck said hybrid synergy drive on it according to the guy who took it. Synergy drive is a toyota system if my memory is correct. I sure seem to be barrowing allot of pics lately. lol

 

Okay, before we all go ga-ga over the possibility of a hybrid truck, particularly one using railroad type technologies, lets take a look at what is involved, because there are some really big problems yet to be solved.

First, there simply are no reasonably weighted motors that can be mounted on the truck to drive it in individual wheel positions. To have a truck with current performance, you would be looking at anywhere from 100 hp to 150 hp per individual wheel motor, yet it would have to fit in the confines of a wheel, while not interfering with either the brakes or the differential assemblies. You might be able to do away with the differential if you provide electronic conteols and circuitry to each wheel to allow them to turn at differnig speeds to provide the same action as a current differential, but that gets very involved as far as the electronics go.

Some time when you are at an inductrial facility, take a look at the size of a 100 hp motor and think about the technology leap needed to make it fit in the desired space.

While both locomotives and quarry trucks make use of this technologies, as do large loaders and other equipment, you will notice that both railroads and quarries are very smooth roads to travel on. Most quarries have a fleet of graders and water trucks maintaining the haul roads, and the reason for this is that electric wheel motors, because of their weight, and the fact that they are mounted below any suspension units, have to be very carefully insulated and protected from sudden shocks from potholes and dips. The motors are mounted below the chocks and springs, and are what an engineer would call unsprung weight. Railroads run on relatively smooth tracks as well. Consider what is likely to happen if you have a several hundred pound motor bouncing on some of the roads that we travel on and how that kind of impacts are likely to affect the life of the motors.

Now, that we have that under consideration, realize that any electric motor requires a cooling capability, and than usually means vents in the housing. Now think of rain, snow, salt, road crud, and all the things that have potential for getting into the electric motors on the truck.

I coild go on, but I thik just that amount of info should make you think twice about a hybrid of this type. the current hybrids being designed that show potential are using forms or regernerating and collecting energy from stop an go work. There is very little application to long haul work, and at this point there is very little likelyhood of there being any progress in that arena.

 

I agree with ya Burky but desperation can breed some great inovaions in technology. The controlers have now been developed that would be needed for high speed operation of the electric motors so there is some options that were not available even a year ago. Since they can spin the motors faster now you could have something like a portal axle, which is an axle with a gear reduction on the hub. Somethign like that would allow the use of a smaller motor and gearing it down to get the torque.

I agree with the standard type hybrid systems available on cars. They do better in stop and go and the benifits just wouldn't be there for long haul driving.
The Kenworth class 6 truck is this type of system since that clas truck does more city delivery duties. It is hooked to an auto tranny.

If you look at the truck in the picture above that box behind the sleeper looks EXACTLY like the generator shrouds we had on our MRI trailers. SO what do you make of that? I'm thinking that may be a diesel generator supplying power to an electric motor mounted underhood and hoked through the transmission

 

Can't haul much product when the trailer is half hull of batteries.