There is a lot of “low hanging fruit” when it comes to reducing our dependence on oil. For one, we could demand improvements in the efficiency of the most fuel-intensive heavy vehicles like the Ford F-750. Now a third-party supplier named Odyne is offering a plug-in hybrid conversion with a big price tag that could come along with big savings.
Odyne revealed its new plug-in hybrid system for F-750 cab chassis’s at the 2012 Work Truck Show, and it can cost up to $100,000 depending on options. A 14.2 kWh battery pack is standard, though it can be doubled-up, adding up to 1,650 pounds to the chassis. But the plug-in hybrid system could also save up to 1,750 gallons of diesel fuel per year. With the current average price of diesel fuel sitting around $4.09, that 1,750 gallons of diesel fuel, that’s a savings of over $7,150 per-year.
At that rate, it would take about 15 years to pay off the $100,000 28 kWh battery pack system. In addition to saving fuel, the battery pack system can also be used as a 120 or 240-volt outlet system for use at the work site. Sounds like a lot of money, but consider that these trucks can usually last for 20 years or longer (don’t believe me? Check out craigslist), and that explains why Odyne have already been delivered 15 of these plug-in hybrid F-750 trucks.
Big moves in the world of big rigs, and this low-hanging fruit could result in huge cost and oil savings. With talk of CNG being the fuel of future heavy duty vehicles, it’s only a matter of time before these alt-fuels cross paths.
Source: Gas2.0
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