With the ever-increasing cost of crude oil, running and maintaining a fleet or even just a single truck is becoming more and more expensive. The cost for keeping these vehicles running is already a huge debit from a company’s earning capability. In order to remedy this problem while increasing sales, designers are focusing their attention on creating a truck that will consume less fuel, one known as a hybrid bucket truck.

Ideal Hybrid Candidate Reasons

Among the different types of heavy-duty trucks, these vehicles are ideal candidates to be hybridized because they have few demanding features. They are powered by large diesel engines that are able to also mobilize their massive booms. The size and power output of the engine is always proportionate to the amount of fuel consumed during operation.

It is important to keep in mind that whenever the boom is in use, and throughout its operation, in most cases the engine must keep running in order to provide power to the hydraulic system. This system lifts and moves the boom as well as powering the other hydraulic equipment on the vehicle. Since the lift is frequently extended for many hours, the engine has to stay on for the same amount of time. It is these demanding power requirements that place the bucket truck as one of the vehicles that has the highest operating costs in terms of fuel consumption.

How it Works

In order to increase fuel efficiency, these vehicles are powered by not just one but two engines. The first one is a conventional internal combustion diesel engine that powers the drive train and the vehicle during transportation. The second one is an electric motor powered by batteries.

In a regular bucket truck, the internal combustion engine drives the vehicle and powers the hydraulic system during operation. In hybrid bucket trucks, the hydraulic system is powered by the additional electric motor. The use of this motor during operation of the boom greatly reduces the consumption of fuel.

During a lengthy operation when the batteries for the electric motor could get low, the system can automatically switch its power source from the electric motor back to the conventional diesel engine and work can continue without any interruption. As the diesel engine takes over the hydraulic system, it will automatically recharge the batteries of the electric motor.

Future Considerations

Currently, the number of industries switching to the use of hybrid bucket trucks is steadily increasing simply because of the savings they see in their operational costs. After-market add-ons are also available to convert old designs to hybrid power. Even well-known manufacturers are already offering hybrid designs to meet the increasing demand and reflective increased sales of this vehicle.

So far, the only disadvantage is the short lifespan limitation of the batteries used for powering the electric motor and their short power capacity. With constant engineering and innovations, better and more reliable battery technology is expected to become available in the near future which would surely boost the adaptation of hybrid technology to more than bucket trucks. All of this will surely help win the battle and eventually the war with increasing gasoline costs!