While we think that hybrid cars are a complete and utter farce that ultimately do more harm than good for the world, the idea of a hybrid big rig makes a lot of sense to us. Easing the fuel costs of truckers would have a cascading effect on prices of stuff and it would make life better for the truckers themselves. This truck, a Volvo called, “Mean Green” was built by Volvo as a way to show exactly what these trucks are capable of and how much power there is potentially available in a hybrid diesel/electric combo.
The guys from Volvo set the records at the Wendover Airfield in Wendover, Utah. Our pal Mike Cook was on hand to help with the event and from the video that Jason Lewis made, it seems to have gone really well. The truck clips nearly 100mph in the standing kilometer and nearly 150mph in the flying kilometer! With the 1600hp diesel and electric motor combined, this is a truck with nearly 5,000 lb/ft of torque!
We think that this is a neat rig and we applaud Volvo’s use of high speed competition to prove the concept and the point that these trucks have a place on the road! As usual, Jason did a bang up job on the video and it is a pretty fun watch!
Press play and watch one fast rig go to work below!
If you think hybrid technology is bullshit for cars (which it IS), why do you think it’s any better for big trucks. Battery life, recharge time, battery range, weight, and cost are just as relavant (if not more so) for trucks as it is for cars. So you got an extra squirt of 200 HP from the electric motor and a bunch of heavy, expensive batteries for about 10-seconds. What the heck does that prove?
In a railroad locomotive, where weight is NOT an issue, the diesel-electric system makes a very viable method of power transmission. But it a car or a highway truck it is a complete farce!
WTH ! Did Al Gore pay a visit to your office and offer you some of his Kool-Aid ?
The Mean Green is only an attention grabber and conversation starter. In Europe, many of the new double decker buses and trash trucks (both vehicles have the most brutal duty cycle of any diesel…full power then full brake, repeat) have this hybrid system on board and it has proven to be an amazing contribution. Not just in the fuel savings, which has already sorted out to an average of 37%, but in mechanical wear as well. Maintenance on brakes turns out to be the big savings with these hybrid fleets. The electric motor regenerates under braking, saving the huge expense and time loss of servicing drums and shoes. Besides, think of how quite that garbage truck would be in the alley behind your house at 7:30am!
So don’t get me wrong here, I still freakin’ hate my wife’s Prius but this stuff seemed to make sense on how to just help things along.
Maintenance on brakes turns out to be the big savings with these hybrid fleets.
Brake maintenance is a very small fleet cost. if that’s the big selling feature, I’d say save your money. I drive trucks for a living, and owned one for it’s main duty cycle (4 years from new). I never changed the shoes or drums and they were within spec when I sold the truck.
The added cost of the system negates any savings, and in trucks like mine, which travel long distances between having to use brakes or slow down much (mostly freeway driving) it’s not the answer.
I’ve always thought the hybrid thing has been marketed the wrong way. Forget little cars, the return in fuel savings is just not there. Put it in larger vehicles with the highest output engine and market it as a performance option that gets better fuel economy. Who wouldn’t like to add an extra 150lb/ft of torque off idle that just happens to get a little better fuel economy?
I think that this truck is just plain cool. What is wrong with thinking out of the box. I run a LandSpeed corvette and I would gladly offer my driving services
to this Volvo team any day. I sold Volvo Diesel trucks for a living and It is refreshing to see these kinds of engineering exercises.
Keep up the good work.
Dave