Eaton Corporation announced the commercial availability of its hybrid electric power systems for Navistar’s IC Bus brand school buses.
The IC Bus CE Series hybrid electric school bus with unique hill start assist can provide school districts with up to a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy, up to 35 percent reduction of NOx emissions and up to 85 percent reduction of diesel particulates.
“School districts across the country are looking for ways to reduce their fuel cost and provide a greener footprint for their community without compromising passenger or driver comfort,” said Dimitri Kazarinoff, vice president and general manager for Eaton’s Hybrid Power Systems Division. ”With the Eaton hybrid system, they now have a proven option that has more than 100 million miles of real-world experience.”
“We are pleased to incorporate Eaton’s proprietary Hybrid System to improve fuel economy by up to 30 percent and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said John McKinney, President, IC Bus.
Eaton worked with IC Bus to specially design its hybrid system for school bus deployment. The hybrid system combines the MaxxForce DT with MaxxForce Advanced EGR (exhaust gas recirculation)—the industry’s only no-hassle 2010 emissions solution—with an electric motor that has a peak power output of 44 kilowatt. Through regenerative braking, battery charge is controlled to provide a steady supply of power. This allows for less wear and tear on brakes and additional operational savings. Eaton matches the system to an automated six-speed Eaton transmission and stores energy in lithium-ion batteries. The hybrid system also includes Eaton’s unique hill start assist technology that keeps the bus from rolling backwards on a grade. In addition, maintenance is simple with this hybrid system, requiring only a normal coolant check and battery compartment filter replacement in accordance with the regular maintenance schedule. IC Bus and Eaton back up the entire hybrid system with a 5-year unlimited mileage warranty.
Eaton hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and hybrid hydraulic power systems are available or in development on truck models including Crane Carrier Corporation, DAF, Daimler, Freightliner, Ford, International, Iveco, Kenworth, and Peterbilt and on bus models from BCI, Foton, Heng Tong, IC Bus, JNP, King Long, Shen Long, Solaris, Tata, YoungMan, Yutong and Zhongtong.
Companies such as FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola Enterprises and PepsiCo are using delivery vehicles with Eaton hybrid systems. Work trucks with Eaton hybrid power are also in service at Florida Power and Light, and many utility and telecom companies across North America and city bus transit fleets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America are using Eaton hybrid power in their fleets.