Hydraulic Hybrid Prototyping

After testing our first hydraulic hybrid prototype on the LH4 last summer we moved on to creating a prototype on a 2004 Chevy 2500HD in the fall.

We had a truck on loan from the Denver International Airport fleet for the pilot project. It was complete in November and we tested it for a few weeks and that process spurred the major modifications to our Power Transfer Module (see the last post). Unfortunately the transmission on the 2004 truck was not a good candidate for the prototype so we returned the truck to DIA without the hydraulic hybrid system on it with the understanding that we will retrofit a newer truck for them after our next prototype is complete.

Currently we are applying the new tank system and updated PTM to a Chevy Silverado 2500HD. (Detail on right.) The system was applied and has since been removed for modifications and in order to get some baseline performance numbers on the truck. The truck will be complete in mid-February and will debut at the State of Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office Environmental and Transportation Fair on February 24th. From there we will take it to the international Work Truck Show and Green Truck Summit in St. Louis in early March. We are excited to show it off and will keep you posted regarding these opportunities.