New Rules Fuel Push For Hybrid Big Rigs

[Fledermaus]

There are some early adopters out there. New York City is buying a few hybrid street sweepers. Some companies like FedEx, UPS and Coca-Cola are buying hybrid trucks in the hundreds.

But very few are doing it with just their own money. Most are using grants from the federal government.

"If they can't afford to do it without government help, what happens when the government help ends?" says Russ Harding, who studies environmental issues at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank. Harding doesn't blame anyone for taking advantage of grants.

"That's all fine and dandy, but when those dollars then are not available, they're going to abandon that technology," Harding says. "If anything, that's going to discourage investment."

But some companies say their commitment to hybrids is here to stay.

Coca-Cola now has 600 hybrid big rigs, comprising 6 percent of its fleet. The company used a mix of state, federal and its own dollars, but says it will keep buying hybrids if the grants go away.

"As an early adopter, we have the cost penalty on the front end," says Bruce Karas, director of sustainability for Coca-Cola. "But in time, as more trucks are produced, as more drivetrains are put together, those cost profiles go down, and you can see the same scenario again and again for wind power, solar, fuel cells — any other type of new technology."

So far, the federal government's role has largely been a carrot. But the stick is coming. The EPA plans to propose new federal rules to improve medium- to heavy-duty truck fuel efficiency. Big-rig trucks would have to make the biggest change — a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy and emissions by 2018.

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