CleanDrive Technologies: Hybrid - two drives are better than one | Daimler > Technology & Innovation > Shaping Future Transportation

Shaping Future Transportation:
CleanDrive Technologies

Hybrid: Two drives are better than one

40 years of invaluable experience with hybrid drive.

The Daimler Group has the most extensive, and longest, experience with hybrid drives in the world. Back in 1969 at the IAA, Daimler-Benz AG presented the worlds first commercial vehicle with hybrid drive, an OE 302 bus. Today there are around 3,500 hybrid trucks and buses from Daimler on the road every day worldwide. Whether regular service buses by Orion, trucks and walk-in vans by Freightliner or light-duty trucks and buses by Fuso – all have successfully passed their test of maturity. No other manufacturer in the world has produced more commercial vehicles with hybrid drive – and many other models are already close to introduction.

Hybrid drives are an important part of the Daimler strategy for sustainable mobility.

They combine combustion engine and electric motor, which can be operated together or individually, depending on vehicle type and driving situation. Lessons learned from practical trials around the world and for different Group brands have given rise to common developments. For example, Daimler engineers opted for the parallel hybrid drive in trucks regardless of vehicle size. Here the vehicle is powered by combustion engine or electric motor separately or in tandem. The demands and technical parameters for urban buses are completely different, which is why a serial hybrid drive is used. Here the combustion engine drives a generator, the energy from which is used to feed an electric drive motor.

Global Hybrid Center

The Global Hybrid Center of Daimler Trucks in Kawasaki, Japan, is a future-oriented component of the Shaping Future Transportation initiative: This is where the worldwide hybrid activities of Daimler Trucks are concentrated. Synergies and joint strategies are created and are executed more efficiently and thoroughly. So-called local application centers at the individual markets ensure adaptation and implementation for various vehicles and brands.



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Hybrid plus: Freightliner M2eHybrid

The concept of the Freightliner M2 Hybrid with elevating platform goes a step further than conventional hybrid vehicles. The vehicle uses the electric part of the drive not only as an alternative support for the vehicle’s diesel engine, but also as a quiet and emission-free auxiliary drive to operate the elevating platform. This concept lends itself well to a wide range of applications, such as pumps for tankers or fire service vehicles and many other auxiliaries, making the sound of an idling diesel engine – particularly irritating for local residents – a thing of the past. The M2e drive combines an in-line six-cylinder engine (186 kW/252 hp) with an electric motor (44 kW/60 hp). The Lithium-Ion batteries are fed with energy recovered by regenerative braking. The truck moves away using just electric power and can also cover short distances in electric mode. Freightliner claims a fuel saving in the range of 25 to 30 percent.



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Environmental Technology Award Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

First prize in the “Emissions Reduction, Treatment and Sequestration” category for the Mercedes-Benz Atego BlueTec Hybrid truck. The award-winning 12-tonne truck is a medium-duty diesel-electric hybrid vehicle. The truck has been undergoing technology trials since the beginning of 2009 at Deutsche Post DHL. The market launch is planned for 2010.