Azure Dynamics’ Hybrid Power Improving Fleet Fuel Economy

While it’s easy to get excited about cars, trucks, and SUVs with advanced and eco-positive powertrains, commercial vehicles using these same technologies get a lot less attention. That’s too bad, because fleet vehicles can have a big impact on CO2 reduction and petroleum displacement due to the sheer number of miles they drive every day.

One example of the type of advanced powerplants making their way to commercial vehicles is the Balance Hybrid Electric drivetrain developed and marketed by Azure Dynamics. It’s now being used for hybrid box vans, package delivery trucks, shuttle buses, and school buses. These vehicles are in service with over 25 different customers including FedEx, AT&T, Purolator Courier in Canada, and the Napa Valley Unified School District. Recently, a Balance Hybrid Electric step van was delivered to the United States Postal Service for testing.

Working with Ford, Azure developed the parallel hybrid drive system for the Ford E-450 Cutaway and Strip Chassis. The Balance system combines a 100 kilowatt AC induction traction motor, power electronics, integrated starter/generator, and 288 volt nickel-metal-hydride battery pack along with a conventional 5.4-liter Triton V-8 gasoline engine and 5-speed automatic Torqshift transmission. In the future, a diesel engine may be added as an option and Azure Dynamics is investigating the market for using it on the smaller Ford E-350 platform.

Azure says the Balance hybrid system improves fuel economy by up to 40 percent and reduces maintenance costs by 30 percent. A vehicle’s carbon footprint is also said to decrease by as much as 30 percent. These improvements result primarily from the system’s engine stop/start capability and regenerative braking.

The Azure hybrid system can operate virtually silently in an electric-only mode at low speeds and for short distances from an eighth- to a quarter-mile. Electric launch-assist can save fuel on take-offs, an important distinction for potentially heavy commercial vehicles that take a lot of energy to get moving from a stop.

Like most hybrids today, this is a charge sustaining system and operates as a stand-alone unit so it does not have to plugged in to recharge batteries. Currently, Azure has no plans to add a plug-in capability. Cobasys NiMHax hybrid battery packs are now used.

Azure is going after the delivery van, shuttle, and school bus markets. Though the system is still quite new, Azure has already sold shuttle buses to public and private transit agencies, with those vehicles often purchased with federal funds. The bus version is eligible for Federal Transit Authority grants when purchased by local transit systems as well as federal tax credits and/or numerous individual state and agency incentive programs.

To qualify, the Ford E-450 chassis with Azure’s technology has completed significant durability testing at the Federal Transportation Administration’s Altoona, Pennsylvania Bus Research and Testing Center. Here, accelerated durability testing simulates seven years and 200,000 miles of duty in a few months time. Harsh road conditions mimic real-world conditions encountered by a commercial shuttle or school bus.

Azure has an exclusive agreement with Collins Bus Corp. for the NEXBUS school bus, which features the Balance Hybrid Electric drivetrain as an option on Collins Type A school buses. Type A school buses typically transport between 14 and 30 students.

School buses make lots of starts and stops interspersed with extended periods of idling while loading and unloading kids. This is an ideal duty cycle for the start-stop and regenerative features of a hybrid electric drivetrain. Additionally, the hybrid’s large capacity batteries allow lights, heating, cooling, and communications equipment to operate without the engine running. Large hybrid Class C school buses manufactured by IC Bus and Thomas Built Buses are already in service.