Mack announced the addition of another one of its hybrid, zero emission drayage trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.Mack announced that it’s developing a second, zero-emission drayage truck for use at two major California ports where air quality remains a state concern.
The first Mack prototype hybrid drayage truck has been undergoing testing in a drayage fleet at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as part of a partnership with Calstart and the California Energy Commission. The plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) was built as part of a South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)-sponsored project and is capable of zero-emission operation thanks to the integration of a Mack MP7 clean diesel engine with a proprietary parallel hybrid system and lithium-ion battery pack.
The truck uses geo-fencing capabilities similar to those enabled by Mack’s GuardDog® Connect telematics platform, to switch between zero-emission and hybrid operating modes. Geo-fencing establishes a virtual perimeter as determined by GPS coordinates. The onboard hardware can then identify each time the truck passes through the perimeter.
Mack is now developing a second prototype truck which incorporates many improvements to components and software derived from operational testing of the first prototype. Enhancements include more power in zero emission mode and an intelligent geo-fencing algorithm to deliver even more emission reduction benefits. The second prototype vehicle will join the first for evaluation in revenue service this year.
Mack Trucks is also working with Siemens to demonstrate a near-zero emission Class 8 drayage truck as part of the eHighway project sponsored by the SCAQMD. The project’s goal is to reduce air pollution at freight-intensive locations and will take place on a one-mile section of eHighway that Siemens installed near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two largest ports in the U.S.
The eHighway infrastructure covers select lanes of a highway with a catenary system similar to those used to power trolley or streetcars. The Mack truck connects and disconnects to and from the catenary system at any speed for dynamic power supply, thanks to a current collector supplied by Siemens, allowing for near-zero emissions when operating on the eHighway corridor.
The Mack prototype used in the demonstrations is a conventional Pinnacle DayCab model equipped with a proprietary and fully integrated plug-in hybrid electric driveline, offering significant fuel savings and emissions reduction benefits even when the truck is operating outside of the eHighway.
Yet another vehicle Mack currently is testing is its LR refuse model retrofitted with the Wrightspeed Route 1000 powertrain. Mack is the first OEM to evaluate Wrightspeed technology within a Class 8 refuse vehicle.
