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Denver Selected To Test New Hybrid Garbage Truck

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Jul 16, 2008 8:04 pm US/Mountain

Denver Selected To Test New Hybrid Garbage Truck

Reporting
Dave Aguilera
DENVER (CBS4) ― It's the next big thing in hybrid vehicles and it's coming to Denver.

Denver is one of the first cities in the country to test a new hybrid vehicle that doesn't use batteries.

"Most people are familiar with the hybrid electric vehicles, the passenger vehicles," Nancy Kuhn with Denver Public Works said. "This is hybrid hydraulic, so it's technology that's perfect for stop-and-go applications like a trash truck."

It's technology and trash collecting coming together to put Denver on the cutting edge of going green.

"Instead of a hybrid electric vehicle, it's a hybrid hydraulic, so it utilizes hydraulics as a second fuel source so you're using bio-diesel and hydraulics to launch the vehicle and slow the vehicle down," Kuhn said.

The starting and stopping power is created by transferring hydraulic fluid from one tank to another, instead of using fuel to speed up or brakes to slowdown.

"When I was looking into some calculations I figure that if we could get 20 to 25 percent better fuel economy, it would be about $2,000 a year for one truck," Kuhn said.

Denver had to compete with cities all over the country, including New York and Chicago to get the green machine. In fact, outside of Texas, Denver is the only city to get one of the hybrid vehicles.

Peterbuilt, the company that makes the truck, chose Denver as a testing ground because they wanted to see how the hybrid hydraulics do in the snow and the altitude of the Mile High City.

Denver Public Works will be testing the truck in Montbello and Green Valley for about a year. If all goes well, there may be more green machines hitting the streets in the years to come.

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