Coke's New Hybrid Truck

The Coke truck delivers to us twice a week so its nothing new to see it rolling past our office windows on its way to receiving. Except today when I caught an eye of the trailer. Have a look. I ran outside with my camera to catch the driver as he backed in so I could ask him what is was all about.

Here is what I learned from the driver: "Drives like a truck" :-)

Here is what I learned from the internet:

 Coca-Cola Enterprises plans to purchased 120 hybrid-electric drivetrain-equipped trucks from Eaton Corp.

The Coca-Cola order represents the largest North American commercial order to date for Eaton's hybrid systems and follows the beverage company's purchase of 20 trucks with Eaton hybrid power systems in 2007.
Testing and evaluations conducted by CocaCola Enterprises found that Baton's hybridelectric drivetrain equipped trucks decreased emissions by roughly 32 percent and fuel consumption by up to 37 percent as compared to conventionally-powered trucks in Coca-Cola's current fleet. Coca-Cola also reported lower maintenance costs on the hybrid-powered trucks.
"We have been working with Coca-Cola Enterprises since 2003 to assess our systems" said Dimitri Kazarinoff, general manager for emerging technologies at Baton's Truck Group, Kalamazoo, Ml. "Coca-Cola is demonstrating its commitment to reducing pollution and greenhouse gases and Eaton is pleased to be a part of this effort. We are looking forward to working with them to deploy the systems into their transportation network."
"In addition to the environmentally friendly advantages that hybrid vehicles deliver, we also report that driver acceptance has been highly favorable, especially in high start-and-stop applications," says Dave Leasure, corporate director of fleet procurement, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Atlanta.
"The hybrid drive units have been performing very well in communicating with the electronic engines, always giving us the necessary torque and horsepower when it is needed."
Eaton employs parallel-type, diesel-electric hybrid architecture with Eaton's Fuller UltraShift automated transmission. It incorporates an electric motor/generator between the output of an automated clutch and input of the transmission.
The system recovers energy normally lost during braking and stores the energy in batteries. When electric torque is blended with engine torque, the stored energy is used to improve fuel economy and vehicle performance for a given speed or used to operate the vehicle with electric power only.
The system can also be designed to provide energy for use during engine-off worksite operations, further reducing noise, emissions and fuel costs.

Great Job Coke!!!


Cheers,
Calvin