Hybrid Trucks Taking Lessons From the Auto Industry Again

Have you ever considered where all the advances in the Trucking Industry come from? Well you really do not have to look very far. The Department of Transportation did a recent study discussion new technologies coming into the trucking industry right now and how those will improve the safety factor, lower accident rates and save lives.

For instance lane departure warnings will soon be common on over-the-road-trucks. Also radar which will prevent multi-car pile ups in inclement weather or fog and these devices may someday help trucks drive closer together to save fuel by drafting off each other like NASCAR or the riders in Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France.

Then there are the hybrids where the motor charges the batteries and the batteries run the vehicle. Where are these technologies coming from? The Hybrid Audi scheme is typical now and we are seeing Hybrid Trucks emerge now using these engineering theories.

Hybrid Trucks which use a huge percentage less fuel and can take advantage of technology for safety will lower the over all costs of trucking companies substantially all the way around.

A company that invests in these technologies will easily recover the costs and make a good return on investment in a relatively short time frame. The biggest concern of course is reliability of more complex systems, maintenance, uptime and availability of such trucks which are not quite here yet. It should be obvious that it is all on its way now and will be here shortly.

Hybrid Cars – What Makes Them Hybrids?

The auto market has been devastated, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t pockets that aren’t still doing well. The most popular is undoubtedly the modern hybrid. It seems every car company is kicking them out, but do people really understand what they are?

The modern hybrid gets its name because it is comprised of two power sources. The first is an internal combustion engine, the basic power plant used in 99 percent of vehicles on the road for the last 80 years or so. The second power source is an electrically energy source. The power plants are controlled by a computer that switches between the two as needed.

A car that does not have these two power sources is not a hybrid. Flex fuel cars, for instance, run on gasoline or 85 percent ethanol fuels. While there are two fuel sources, the mechanism that produces power is still an internal combustion engine.

As such, the car is simply a flex fuel vehicle. You might be driving one and not even realize it!

What about electric cars? The Chevy Volt is being touted in advertisements even though GM hasn’t come close to figuring out the battery issue inherent in all electrical vehicles. Regardless, the electric car is not a hybrid because it is purely an electric car. There is no internal combustion engine because gas is not used. Of course, coal is being burned at a plant to provide electricity to the grid, but nobody seems interested in discussing that!

So, are we being overly technical in defining what is and what is not a hybrid? Absolutely! There is a reason, however. Each classification [flex, hybrid, electrical] comes with different issues that need to be debated. It is a fine point with big ramifications. Each power source comes with ramifications whether they be consumption of oil as a fuel source or environmental in the form of pollution and greenhouse gases.