UPS Prototype Plastic Vehicle Delivers 40% More Fuel Efficiency
source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/ups-prototype-plastic-delivery-vehicles-40-fuel-efficient/
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When you operate over 70,000 delivery vehicles worldwide, as UPS does, increasing the miles per gallon of your vehicles is an economically motivated endeavor with some welcome environmental side benefits. Over the years, UPS has tested various vehicle propulsion technologies, including natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, electric vehicles, and hybrids, to squeeze out ever greater fuel efficiency. However, the announcement that they have started testing a plastic prototype truck, shows that significant improvements can be made without the use of new or elaborate drive train technologies – instead, worthwhile gains can be achieved merely by saving weight.
In fact, 1,000 lbs of weight has been saved by UPS – in collaboration with Utilimaster – on it’s prototype CV-23 truck, which uses lighter ABS plastic, instead of sheet aluminum for it’s body panels. The reduced heft allows a smaller Isuzu 4-cylinder diesel engine to be used, together resulting in a vehicle which achieves 40% better fuel economy as compared with one of their regular package delivery trucks.
This fact sheet from UPS details the particulars of the new CV-23 prototype vehicle, which could possibly replace the current P70 package truck if testing through the remainder of this year is successful. Assuming it stands up to the rigors of the real world, 40% improved fuel efficiency sounds like something worth taking advantage of. So let’s, put it into perspective.
What exactly does an existing P70 truck achieve by way of fuel efficiency? Green Car Congress reported in 2009, that a 12 month test of a P70 hybrid, conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), achieved 29% greater fuel efficiency as compared with the non-hybrid P70 diesel. The diesel averaged 10.2 mpg, so it seems reasonable to use this figure to extrapolate the 40% increase in fuel efficiency of the CV-23. A quick calculation suggests the new vehicle should get something like 14.28 mpg (in excess of a 4 mpg improvement) and it’s worth noting that this betters the efficiency of the hybrid, which was rated at 13.1 mpg in the study. These aren’t UPS’s figures, but any error should be small.
Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/ups-prototype-plastic-delivery-vehicles-40-f...
In fact, 1,000 lbs of weight has been saved by UPS – in collaboration with Utilimaster – on it’s prototype CV-23 truck, which uses lighter ABS plastic, instead of sheet aluminum for it’s body panels. The reduced heft allows a smaller Isuzu 4-cylinder diesel engine to be used, together resulting in a vehicle which achieves 40% better fuel economy as compared with one of their regular package delivery trucks.
This fact sheet from UPS details the particulars of the new CV-23 prototype vehicle, which could possibly replace the current P70 package truck if testing through the remainder of this year is successful. Assuming it stands up to the rigors of the real world, 40% improved fuel efficiency sounds like something worth taking advantage of. So let’s, put it into perspective.
What exactly does an existing P70 truck achieve by way of fuel efficiency? Green Car Congress reported in 2009, that a 12 month test of a P70 hybrid, conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), achieved 29% greater fuel efficiency as compared with the non-hybrid P70 diesel. The diesel averaged 10.2 mpg, so it seems reasonable to use this figure to extrapolate the 40% increase in fuel efficiency of the CV-23. A quick calculation suggests the new vehicle should get something like 14.28 mpg (in excess of a 4 mpg improvement) and it’s worth noting that this betters the efficiency of the hybrid, which was rated at 13.1 mpg in the study. These aren’t UPS’s figures, but any error should be small.
Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/ups-prototype-plastic-delivery-vehicles-40-f...
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