Eaton Corporation's fuel-saving Hydraulic Launch Assist (HLA) technology will be used on a south Texas fleet of urban shuttle buses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The shuttle bus emissions initiative was made possible by a $499,974 New Technology Research and Development (NTRD) grant awarded by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). Announced by HARC program director Rudy Smaling, the grant builds on a successful 2006 project in which Eaton's HLA systems were installed on 12 refuse trucks under a state of Texas New Technology Research and Development Grant.
Eaton's HLA system is a regenerative braking system that captures and stores the vehicle's kinetic energy rather than dissipating it as heat. Braking energy is stored in pressurized accumulators and then used to help accelerate the vehicle. The HLA system is an ideal hybrid technology for vehicles with duty cycles including many starts and stops because it efficiently captures and recycles energy using relatively simple, durable components that are easily integrated into conventional drivetrains.