Fuso's hybrid truck gains traction in the market
UK prototype trial shows promising results - on a hybrid truck that's been on sale since 2006Sydney based courier and logistics company, Star Track Express, is taking delivery of 25 Mitsubishi Fuso Canter hybrid powered light trucks this month. Within the same month, Mitsubishi and hybrid trucks partner Daimler have announced promising results at the half-way mark in a three-year fleet trial of the model in London.
Given the model isn't new -- it's been around since 2006 -- it may seem odd to be running this type of prototype trialling while selling road-ready product. It's a reflection of a market segment set to spring from the starting blocks sooner rather than later, and the need for companies to have the product lineup ready when it does. It hasn't yet -- Mitsubishi has only sold about 1000 to date, with Star Track's the biggest single order for the model outside of Japan.
The three-year UK project reflects the company's keenness to get future product right for the European conditions, to which end it went into partnership with Daimler Trucks in 2008. For Daimler, integrating its own Global Hybrid Centre with Mitsubishi's Japanese facilities helps speed up the development of product ready for the differing operational needs and legislative standards around the world.
The UK project is aimed at gathering data about real-life usability, reliability and savings in fuel and emissions, against the model's conventionally powered counterparts. The Canter Eco Hybrid has been rolled out by Daimler Trucks through selected elements of its London customer base. The feedback gathered from it will help ready forthcoming generations of hybrid transport for both companies, at a time when getting the product right quickly is imperative in the race to achieve a competitive edge.
The current parallel hybrid drive combines 3.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine -- currently Euro 4 compliant and good for 107 kW and 362 Nm -- with a 35 kW electric motor powered by a 1.9 kW/h lithium-ion battery pack. Motive power reaches the road through a conventional five-speed auto transmission. The companies have already announced the next generation will feature auto stop-start.
Eighteen months in, the ten Canter Eco Hybrids rolled out into eight customer fleets have shown a consistent fuel consumption advantage of 10 to 15 per cent, depending on the way it's used, with commensurate drops in CO2 emissions. Aggregate fuel savings amount to about 5000 litres so far. Similar trials in Japan, using lighter versions of the truck like those bought by Star Track, saw fuel savings of up to 30 percent.
The UK fleets into which the truck has been introduced have been carefully selected for the broad spectrum of duties they fulfil and conditions in which they operate. Trial customers include Royal Mail, power utility Scottish and Southern, retailer Tesco and transport/logistics giants TNT and DHL. Body types range from normal and refrigerated box bodies, tippers and a loading crane, while conditions vary from constant stop-go to longer, uninterrupted journeys. So far, running at anything from 400 to 2800 km a week, between them they've run up more than 260,000 km.
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