Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hybra-Drive hydraulic hybrid to undergo HTUF testing




It's not often that a Hummer is pictured here on AutoblogGreen but this particular brute, owned by hydraulic hose and belt supplier Gates, is being converted to a hydraulic hybrid using a system developed by Hybra-Drive. We introduced them to you in '07 and now that they're making some news, we wanted to bring them back. Their set-up, you'll remember, uses a conventional engine to pressurize a hydraulic system to send power to the wheels which is said by the company to reduce fuel consumption by more than half and reduce emissions as much as 90 percent.


It seems this small Deerfield, MI business has been chosen over some of the more established firms like Eaton to "negotiate with the Parcel Delivery Working Group of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) in Pasadena, Calif. for validation and testing of hybrid hydraulic power on parcel delivery vehicles," according to the Great Lakes IT report on WWJ Newsradio 950. HTUF is a branch of Calstart that, through forums and working groups, works to help commercialize hybrid designs for trucks. So maybe we'll be seeing hydraulic hybrid systems used in vehicles besides the Peterbilt garbage truck at some point in the future.

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