Hybrid pickup by Workhorse

Yes if it is shorter distance and/or more frequent charging I think it will be beneficial in theory.
I used to only charge at home but charging at work and at public stations my mpg are now 140 mpg.

mich800 wrote:

rowekmr wrote:
I always wondered why trains didn't have a dedicated battery car to recapture all that energy from dynamic braking. I didn't think the weight would be prohibitive since they have the capacity to pull so much.

Those bean counters at some companies will love the 75mpge of this vehicle. Our municipal cars routinely get horrendous single digits mpg's with all the stop and go and long idling. Another minor fact is less gasoline engine use means less oil changes and engine schedule maintenance per mile and with regenerative braking less brake pad wear. Lots of savings to be gained.

I would wait and see what the actual range on electric is. 80 miles per the article is a lot for a working truck. The Pacifica's I drive get about 40ish miles on a full charge. So in an eight hour day the average combined fuel economy is not really much better than if you got the regular six cylinder. But the smooth cvt and linear acceleration is worth it. If you are doing shorter commutes or have the ability to charge at extended stops the hybrid becomes more economical.

rowekmr wrote:
I always wondered why trains didn't have a dedicated battery car to recapture all that energy from dynamic braking. I didn't think the weight would be prohibitive since they have the capacity to pull so much.

Those bean counters at some companies will love the 75mpge of this vehicle. Our municipal cars routinely get horrendous single digits mpg's with all the stop and go and long idling. Another minor fact is less gasoline engine use means less oil changes and engine schedule maintenance per mile and with regenerative braking less brake pad wear. Lots of savings to be gained.

I would wait and see what the actual range on electric is. 80 miles per the article is a lot for a working truck. The Pacifica's I drive get about 40ish miles on a full charge. So in an eight hour day the average combined fuel economy is not really much better than if you got the regular six cylinder. But the smooth cvt and linear acceleration is worth it. If you are doing shorter commutes or have the ability to charge at extended stops the hybrid becomes more economical.

BenK wrote:
And locomotives in the USA have been hybrids to this day....ever since they replaced steam locomotives

Guess those miles and miles long freight train hauling/towing rail cars are 'not' hybrids ????

**delete** quoted wrong post

I always wondered why trains didn't have a dedicated battery car to recapture all that energy from dynamic braking. I didn't think the weight would be prohibitive since they have the capacity to pull so much.

Those bean counters at some companies will love the 75mpge of this vehicle. Our municipal cars routinely get horrendous single digits mpg's with all the stop and go and long idling. Another minor fact is less gasoline engine use means less oil changes and engine schedule maintenance per mile and with regenerative braking less brake pad wear. Lots of savings to be gained.

Guess it depends which brand/OEM locomotive...know most of the GE diesel/electric locomotive have huge batteries

Did you guys know that the Submarines of WWII were diesel/Electric and ran on battery power when submerged ?? Huge batteries of that era

Yes, many of the other OEMs used large resister grids to dissipate the regenerated power during regenerative braking....most of the 'variable speed' electric controllers employed resister grids before the late 1960's and into the early 1970's and is when my startups made money converting them to solid state variable speed controllers

KD4UPL wrote:

BenK wrote:
And locomotives in the USA have been hybrids to this day....ever since they replaced steam locomotives

Guess those miles and miles long freight train hauling/towing rail cars are 'not' hybrids ????

They are not hybrids. They are diesel electric locomotives. They have no batteries so they won't move unless the engine is running. The electric aspect is for the transmission of power; it has nothing to do with battery power, regenerative braking, or emissions reduction as typical hybrid automobiles do..

They do use the use the electric motors for braking though. Reverse the current flow and use them as generators. But then just burn off the generated electricity in monster resistor packs.

Surprising they haven't yet gone to monster batteries instead of resistor packs. Maybe the weight is prohibitive?

KD4UPL wrote:

BenK wrote:
And locomotives in the USA have been hybrids to this day....ever since they replaced steam locomotives

Guess those miles and miles long freight train hauling/towing rail cars are 'not' hybrids ????

They are not hybrids. They are diesel electric locomotives. They have no batteries so they won't move unless the engine is running. The electric aspect is for the transmission of power; it has nothing to do with battery power, regenerative braking, or emissions reduction as typical hybrid automobiles do..

Yah, and for us EV's drivers, that regen and the one pedal driving it brings is one of the things that would make it very hard to go back to a gas burner again. There is a long list of qualities that separate EV driving from ICE driving but this is one that you have to get used to everytime you step in an ice.

BenK wrote:
And locomotives in the USA have been hybrids to this day....ever since they replaced steam locomotives

Guess those miles and miles long freight train hauling/towing rail cars are 'not' hybrids ????

They are not hybrids. They are diesel electric locomotives. They have no batteries so they won't move unless the engine is running. The electric aspect is for the transmission of power; it has nothing to do with battery power, regenerative braking, or emissions reduction as typical hybrid automobiles do..

mich800 wrote:
Body designed by the Ford diesel department. Bet the oil filter is also easy to get to. :)

But it looks like they've already solved the problem of having to remove the cab for simple repairs :-)

Groover wrote:

Dadoffourgirls wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
GM offered a hybrid pick-up over a decade ago. It also included the ability to use it as a generator for on site power. I've worked construction for nearly 24 years and I've only ever known 1 guy who owned one. I think I saw a second one driving down the road once.
Apparently this isn't something there was a market for.

GM currently offers a hybrid (1500 Crew) with 5.3 and 8sp trans. Only available to order by California, Hawaii, Oregon, Texas and Washington eAssist Dealers.

I am not clear why GM dropped that earlier version but shortly after they did I read that they got horrible miles per gallon. It seems that they spent most of their days idling, serving as jobsite generators. I have wondered it that had anything to do with them being dropped. The Workhorse should do better in that application since it has a much more appropriately sized gas engine.

Or there wasn't a market for an overpriced, underpowered pickup truck that could be outdone by a normal pickup and a $1500 Honda generator.

Workhorse is an interesting concept for urban transit light duty work though.