UPS tested a Modec van for nine months in London before ordering the others. In the trial, the van averaged 18 miles per day and its battery consumption amounted to 25 percent of a full charge per day. Each zero emission vehicle can travel 100 miles on one overnight charge, with batteries in future models set to increase the range to 150 miles per two- to three-hour charge, according to UPS.

Less than three weeks earlier, UPS announced in Atlanta that it ordered seven hydraulic hybrid vehicles for use in the U.S. as a result of a development partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, diversified power management firm Eaton Corporation and truck and military vehicle-maker Navistar International Corporation.
Modec Zero-Emission Van for UPS
IMAGE from MODEC

Capping the news about green fleets was an announcement by Cox Communications New England, which is getting an International DuraStar Hybrid Bucket Truck that is made by Navistar and uses a parallel-type, diesel-electric hybrid architecture from the Eaton Corporation.

Eaton's diesel-electric hybrid system incorporates an electric motor/generator between the output of an automated clutch and input of the automated transmission. Energy normally lost during braking is recovered and stored in batteries, and can be channeled back into the driveline during start and acceleration. Potential fuel savings is estimated at almost 60 percent in stop-and-start utility applications, Cox said.

News about the Rhode Island deployment follows Cox Communications' announcement in July that it is adding nine DuraStar hybrid trucks to its fleet for use in six states. Besides Rhode Island, the others are Arizona, California, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Virginia. Cox has more than 15,000 vehicles in its fleet. About 11 percent are eco-friendly: 257 are hybrids and 1,400 can run on biodiesel.