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FedEx first to run hybrid van
Page 20
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• The 1lS parcel carrier FedEx Express is set to become the first fleet to put diesel-electric hybrid vans into full commercial operation. It has ordered an initial 20 Optifleet E700 vans, rated at 16,000Ibs (7,143kg) GM, which will begin service within the next six months.
If operations of the first batch prove successful, FedEx is likely to replace its entire fleet of 30,000 over the next 10 years. The order is the culmination la three-year project by the US Environmental Defense organisation in which 20 manufacturers submitted proposals. Three, Eaton Corporation, Allison Transmissions and BAe Systems Controls built prototypes, with the Eaton entry winning.
The Optifleet E700 is based on FedEx's own design van, the W700, and has a comparative payload penalty of around 45kg. The extra weight is partly mitigated by the use of a smaller, four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz engine rather the W700's six-pot. The electric drive/generator unit and automatic transmission are provided by Eaton Corporation. Energy is stored in Lithium-Ion batteries. Compared with the existing van, the E700 is said to reduce particulate emissions by 90%, NOx by 75% and improve fuel economy by 50%.
Meanwhile, rival carrier UPS is to begin operational tests of fuel cell-powered Mercedes-Benz products in the US. It will begin with the small A Class-based F-Cell' for mail delivery with a number of Sprinters joining early next year.