by Beth Duckett – Aug. 18, 2011 06:20 AM
The Arizona Republic

Scottsdale is believed to be the first city in Arizona to employ a technology that converts garbage trucks into hybrids, saving money on fuel and brake-repair costs.
A single trash hauler can burn $25,000 to $35,000 worth of diesel a year, said Danny Johnson, Scottsdale’s fleet director.
Last year, New York-based ElectroMotive Designs approached the city to develop and convert a hauler into a hybrid.

The results are in, the company said, and they look good.
Since hitting the streets in February, the hybrid truck has an increased fuel economy of at least 10 percent, and an increased brake life of more than 50 percent.
The city paid $34,000 for the technology, Johnson said. For a single vehicle, the savings are estimated at $3,600 a year on fuel, and about $900 a year on brake repairs, he said.
“Scottsdale is the first city to do this,” Johnson said. “We’ve been trying to ‘green’ the fleet anyway, so this was the opportunity to get on the cutting edge of some technology.”
ElectroMotive Designs is an engineering and design provider with its focus on electric and hybrid electric vehicle systems for trucks and other commercial vehicles.
The city plans to use technology when it purchases its next round of garbage trucks, Johnson said.
“Over the life of the vehicle, and we keep them 7 ½ to 8 years, we think we can achieve a return on that $34,000 investment,” he said.
This is not the first time Scottsdale has been at the forefront of waste management technology.
Forty-two years ago, the city developed the first automated residential waste-collection vehicle. Instead of having workers dump the refuse, the first truck, dubbed “Godzilla,” had mechanical arms to raise the cans and dispose of the contents into a hauler.
Retrofitting, or converting a commercial vehicle into a hybrid, is the wave of the future, ElectroMotive Designs spokesman Bill Williams said.
“This truck in Scottsdale was one of our first,” he said.
The technology involves a regenerative braking system that kicks in during deceleration, he said.
The system provides electric stopping power, which is helpful in a trash truck that “starts and stops 1,500 times a day,” Williams said. Because the driver doesn’t have to apply the brakes as much, it decreases wear and tear on the system. The truck also uses launch-assist technology, which triggers electric power when the accelerator is pressed, saving on fuel.
Williams said a hauler might average around 2.7 miles per gallon, so a 10 to 15 percent increase in fuel economy, though seemingly small, can make a significant dent in fuel costs.
ElectroMotive Designs is planning a more sophisticated battery system that could boost fuel economy by 15 to 20 percent, he said.
The company, which opened a branch office in Phoenix last year, is working with the New York Transit Authority and other government agencies to further utilize the technology, he said.
Joseph Ambrosio, general manager of ElectroMotive Designs, said Scottsdale’s “environmental foresight and cost-savings approach are serving the municipality well.”
The “leadership in ‘greening’ the fleet using this method is an ingenious way to reduce fuel consumption while only spending a small fraction of the cost of a new hybrid refuse removal vehicle,” Ambrosio said.

One of the most popular perceptions is:

“Hybrids are significantly better for the environment”

Reality:

Like NEV’s (Neighborhood electric vehicles), hybrids have been optimized for urban use.
Operated in these conditions they are very efficient (although not as efficient as a true EV, now available).
However in order to allow them to operate on the highway they include an internal combustion engine.
The end result is a vehicle with two different drive trains – not to mention a fuel tank and batteries.  This results in a vehicle that is significantly more expensive than its facing non-hybrid counterpart that offers potential economic and environmental benefits that aren’t fully delivered.

The other constant subject in the press seems to be that driving a car charged overnight in your garage is somehow still the same as burning gasoline! It is commonly stated like this:

“Electric Vehicles just move pollution from the tailpipe to the power plant”

Reality:

Gas is a dirty fuel.  Refining one gallon produces 24 lbs of CO2, burning it produces another 19 lbs – a total of 43 pounds of CO2 for every gallon of gas consumed.

If you put 16 gallons of fuel into your Prius you’ve put 384 pounds of CO2 into the environment before you leave the gas station

Once the Prius driver has burned all of their fuel they will have released 688 pounds of CO2 into the environment scenario for the
Driving an electric vehicle results in a 77% reduction of emissions compared to conventional vehicles.

Another interesting fact about our spending being focused on hybrids to help “Stop Global Warming” is the fact that the $25k – $65k for us to drive a hybrid and cut our gas usage by 20% at best could have been spent on a solar panel system that could save nearly 4 times as much CO2 production.

Then there is the “Efficiency Factor!

This proves the need to accept and drive an Electric Car!

Electric motors are very efficient. Very little energy is lost or wasted. In comparison, the efficiency of an internal combustion engine doesn’t exceed 45%. Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel put in to the tank gets used to move the car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning.

The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling.

So, what does all of this mean? We all want to try to help, sort of, but sacrifice is hard to do. When we buy the Prius, are we crushing the trade in?  We need to recycle the cars when we are done with them! That would be the best way help Mother Earth. Running my house off of the sun is the best thing I could do. Driving my old cars until they are no longer fixable is the best thing I can do, until now. EnVision Motor Company actually has an electric vehicle coming to the market. Nissan actually has an electric vehicle coming to the market. Wait and buy one of those, keep the SUV for the weekends with the dog and the kids going to the lake. Those two vehicle combined is the best way to own a “Hybrid”. The good scenerio: 400 miles of pure electric driving during the week, and 100 miles of gas on the weekends. What could be better?….ok, 500 miles a week of pure electric driving, powered by your solar panels on your house, with a compost bin in the back, driving to clean up the ocean and rescue a dog? Sure!  One step at a time.