Full production of Peterbilt’s medium-duty hybrids will begin this summer at its manufacturing facility in Ste. Therese, Quebec, the company announced Wednesday, March 26, at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.
Peterbilt’s Model 330 and Model 335 both feature Eaton Hybrid Power. In urban driving, the Model 330 provides up to a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy over traditional diesel trucks, said Landon Sproull, Peterbilt’s chief engineer. The Model 335 achieves 60 percent better fuel economy when configured for utility applications, Sproull said.
Both models are eligible for federal tax credits. The maximum $12,000 credit for Class 7 hybrids is available for the Model 335 in both utility-boom and pickup-and-delivery applications. A $6,000 credit, the maximum for Class 6 hybrids, is available for the Model 330.
Peterbilt also announced its plan for full production of the hybrid Model 320 Hydraulic Launch Assist vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2008. The low-cab-forward vehicle, for vocational stop-and-go applications such as refuse collection, uses technology developed by Eaton exclusively for Paccar. The system captures the truck’s kinetic energy during braking to assist in launching and acceleration. Besides a significant improvement in fuel economy, the technology has the potential to cut necessary brake realignments in half, Peterbilt said.
Other Peterbilt announcements included:
