KALAMAZOO, MI - Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, a global leader in the development of hybrid power systems for commercial vehicles, announced customers using the company's hybrid systems have collectively accumulated more than 30 million miles of clean, reliable service throughout the world. The more than 2,400 Eaton hybrid systems in use today are on delivery trucks, buses, refuse and utility vehicles and other commercial applications.
"Eaton hybrid commercial vehicles are true work horses that are helping our customers complete the job at hand while also helping them reduce their fuel consumption and level of pollutants," said Dimitri Kazarinoff, vice president and general manager of Eaton's Hybrid Power Systems Division. "This milestone has taken 10 years to achieve, but as the technology becomes even more mainstream and the benefits better understood, we are confident that we can reach the next 30 million miles in a fraction of the time."
Of the 30 million miles accumulated, FedEx alone, operator of the largest fleet of commercial hybrid parcel delivery trucks in the United States, accounts for more than five million miles on its Eaton-powered hybrid trucks and vans.
"Together we are demonstrating that hybrids are very reliable at reducing fuel consumption and emissions," said John Formisano, vice president, Global Vehicles, FedEx Express. "Since 2004, with the help of Eaton, we have reduced our fuel use by nearly 200,000 gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 2,000 metric tons. This is the equivalent of removing more than 300 cars from the road annually."
Eaton offers the world's most complete line-up of hybrid systems for commercial vehicle applications. Eaton hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and two hybrid hydraulic power systems are available or in development on truck models including International, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Iveco, DAF, Daimler, and Ford and on bus models from Foton, Zhongtong, Yutong, JNP, King Long, Shen Long, Heng Tong, BCI and Solaris. Additionally in 2009, Peterbilt began offering customers a refuse truck with Eaton's HLA hydraulic hybrid power system, and Eaton was selected to provide nearly 400 plug-in hybrid utility vehicles as part of a U.S. Department of Energy grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the largest US deployment of plug in hybrid commercial vehicles to date.
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently collected and analyzed fuel economy, maintenance and other vehicle performance data from UPS's first generation hybrid diesel step delivery vans powered by an Eaton electric hybrid power system. The diesel hybrid delivery vans reportedly achieved up to a 37 percent improvement in average fuel economy, resulting in at least a 15 percent improvement in total cost per mile while maintaining similar reliability and operational performance as compared to conventional vehicles.
Companies such as FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola Enterprises, PepsiCo, and Wal-Mart 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 Beijing Transit and other city bus transit fleets in Asia are using Eaton hybrid power in their fleets.
Benefits of the Eaton hybrid systems include fuel savings up to 35 percent, with similar percentages in emission reductions, extended brake life and idle time reductions of up to 87 percent during work site operations which helps customers to significantly reduce their operating costs.
Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management company with 2009 sales of $11.9 billion. Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has approximately 70,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.
