| Truck maker Paccar and drivetrain
and power distribution group Eaton are to jointly develop proprietary
hybrid technology for heavy-duty commercial vehicles in North America.
The new products will be introduced exclusively in Kenworth and Peterbilt
trucks in the North American market, targeted for initial production by
the end of 2009.
The pair have already worked on medium-duty hybrid systems for trucks
that will be launched under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and Daf names in 2008.
Eaton’s heavy-duty hybrid electric power system will be built using
an automated manual transmission with a parallel-type “direct”
hybrid system, incorporating an electric motor/generator located between
the output of an automated clutch and the input to a Fuller UltraShift
transmission.
One feature of this system will be its ability to recover energy normally
lost during braking and store the energy in batteries.
When electric torque is blended with engine torque, this stored energy
is used to improve vehicle performance, operate the engine in a more fuel-efficient
range for a given speed or operate with electric power only.
“Paccar is a leader in the integration of diesel-electric hybrid
technology. The agreement with Eaton, a leader in the design of hybrid
power systems for commercial trucks, further reinforces PaccarR’s
commitment to a leadership role in the development of fuel-efficient,
environmentally friendly technology,” said Tom Plimpton, Paccar
president. “This heavy-duty hybrid technology agreement is a natural
extension to the existing partnership.”
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