HYBRID TRUCKS
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Daimler hybrid proves long-haul credentials
Hybrids for the long haul
Conventional wisdom suggests hybrid trucks are only really suited to short-haul operations, but Daimler doesn’t think so and has plans to prove its point, as CM found out recently in Japan
Words: Will Shiers
Until now, outside of North America hybrid trucks have been aimed squarely at urban stop-start operations, in particular refuse collection. Volvo actually assesses potential buyers of its hybrid 26-tonne FE just to ensure they will be running it in the correct operating environment. If they aren’t going to get close to the potential 30% improvement over the equivalent dieselpowered FE, then they can’t buy the truck.
However, Daimler is of a different opinion. It believes hybrid technology also has a place in heavy-duty long haul operations, and is in the process of proving it with its 25-tonne Fuso Super Great Eco Hybrid. The threeaxle rigid (Japan’s preferred coniguration for long-haul operations), which was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in December 2011, has been developed at Daimler’s Global Hybrid centre in Kawasaki. It is undergoing trials on Japan’s Tomei Expressway, where it works alongside an equivalent diesel-powered Super Great, trunking between Tokyo and Nagoya. Travelling at a top speed of 80kph, it has consistently proved to be 10% better on fuel economy than the diesel truck.
Stored energy
The Super Great uses a parallel hybrid system similar to that seen in the lighter Fuso Canter and Mercedes-Benz Atego hybrids. When slowing down or braking, the electric motor acts as a generator to help brake the vehicle. The energy it generates is stored in a newly-developed lithium-ion battery for future use. The stored power is used to drive the electric motor at low speeds, supplementing the 6R10 12.8-litre diesel engine (which we know as the OM471), and helping to reduce fuel consumption. The truck uses a 12-speed Inomat-II automatic gearbox, which has been derived from the Powershift transmission.
Gustav Tuschen, Mitsubishi Fuso’s vice president of product engineering, says: “Our evaluation so far shows that hybridisation can indeed beneit heavy-duty trucks in typical long-haul operations. The conventional thinking is that hybrids best it light-duty truck operations in urban areas, since such operations involve many stops and starts. While small truck operations in big cities do beneit from hybrid powertrains, due to their ability to frequently recapture braking energy, heavy duty trucks can clearly beneit as well.”
An added challenge
Although the Super Great Eco Hybrid will never make it to Europe, the technology inside it will be used as a common platform throughout the Daimler Trucks portfolio, meaning that one day, it is likely to make it to these shores inside the Actros.
But as well as ensuring that the overall package is neither too expensive nor too heavy, Mercedes will have the added challenge of trying to package it within the conines of an already crowded tractor chassis. ■
CUSTOMISING TRUCKS IN JAPAN
Truck customising is big business in Japan, and new trucks can be ordered with eye-catching chrome panels on the cabs. But if you really want to turn heads with your Dekotora (an abbreviation for ‘decoration truck’), you will need to have custom paintwork (popular themes include geishas, tsunamis and samurais) and hundreds of light bulbs that are synchronised to pop music.
The interiors don’t escape either – crystal gear levers, plasma screens and even chandeliers aren’t unheard of. Incredibly, this tipper, photographed in Aichi, Japan, is a working truck.
● For lots more on Dekotora trucks, see the April issue of Truck & Driver (out 1 March).
WHAT IS A SUPER GREAT?
The Super Great, which was first launched in 1996, is Fuso’s heavy-duty
offering (maximum GVW is 30.8 tonnes). It is manufactured in Kawasaki and is offered as both a tractor and rigid. The truck sells well in the home market, and in recent months has topped the domestic registration charts.
While there is no denying that the truck has a great driveline and an attractive external appearance, the interior is slightly less impressive. It’s a bit plasticky and doesn’t quite live up to the truck’s egotistical name. It’s certainly no match for the Actros (which was recently withdrawn from the Japanese market following disappointing sales).
On the subject of the truck’s identity, in Australia where it is prov ing particularly popular as a refuse truck, the Super Great name has been dropped and it is simply referred to as ‘the heavy’. In fact, the name sounds slightly less ridiculous when you consider that two of its main rivals are the Isuzu Giga and the UD Trucks Quon Wing!
CANTER E-CELL
Fuso has launched a full electric version of its 3.5-tonne Canter, which it showed as a concept vehicle at the IAA in Hanover in 2010. The van, which will undergo road testing throughout 2012, uses 40kWh of lithium-ion batteries and a 70kW electric motor, generating 300Nm of torque. It has a top speed of 50mph and a range of about 80 miles on a 10-hour charge.