Eaton Corp. announced at the Work Truck Show on Feb. 27 that Coca-Cola Enterprises will purchase 120 new trucks in 2008 powered by Eaton’s hybrid electric drivetrain system. The order is Eaton’s largest to date in North America for hybrid systems. Coca-Cola bought 20 trucks with Eaton’s hybrid system in 2007.
“We have been working with Coca-Cola Enterprises since 2003 to assess our systems,” said Dimitri Kazarinoff, general manager for emerging technologies at Eaton’s Truck Group. “Coca-Cola is demonstrating its commitment to reducing pollution and greenhouse gases, and Eaton is pleased to be a part of this effort.”
Coca-Cola’s testing and evaluation of its existing trucks equipped with Eaton’s hybrid-electric drivetrains resulted in a 32 percent reduction in emissions and a 37 percent reduction in fuel consumption compared to conventionally powered equipment.
Eaton’s system relies on a parallel-type, diesel-electric hybrid architecture in conjunction with Eaton’s Fuller UltraShift automated transmission. It incorporates an electric motor/generator between the output of an automated clutch and input of the transmission. The system recovers energy normally lost during braking and stores the energy in batteries.
