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Volvo tests new hybrid refuse truck in London

Veolia will test Volvo's updated hybrid refuse truck which cuts fuel use by 30 percent

November 19, 2008

Volvo Trucks will launch an upgrade to its hybrid refuse truck after a year of field testing.

The truck will receive new components and software and will be tested by Veolia Environmental Services in central London.

The new truck is an upgraded version of the trucks tested in Stockholm and Göteborg in Sweden over the past eighteen months.

The truck is a parallel hybrid in that it has two drivelines, one for diesel and one for electricity.

Volvo sayst the benefit of this is that each fuel type can be used where it is most efficient – the electric motor at low revs and the diesel engine at high revs.

The new refuse truck has electric power steering, new control systems and refined battery management strategies to optimise the battery performance.

Loading and refuse compaction are electrically powered and the battery is more reliable and has a longer lifespan.

Volvo’s Fredrik Bohlin says a small-scale series production of the hybrids will start in 2012, which is later than the original plan.

Volvo chose to delay production because of the gllobal financial crisis that has affected Volvo’s product development and customers’ ability to invest.

According to Volvo, tests show the hybrids use 30 percent less fuel.

Renova, a waste and recycling company in Göteborg, has been testing Volvo’s hybrid refuse truck since spring 2008 and says fuel use has falled 35 percent.

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