The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Dominion Virginia Power is showing off its green credentials.
The utility has added five electric hybrid vehicles to its fleet in an effort to reduce emissions and fuel consumption and to gauge how the electricity used by plug-in hybrids will affect the utility. A plug-in hybrid is a vehicle with a battery that can be recharged by connecting a plug into an electric outlet.
Dominion displayed the vehicles Wednesday at its Cromwell Drive field office.
Two of the vehicles, International DuraStar Hybrid bucket trucks, are being used daily. The trucks employ electric motors that aid in acceleration. A special braking system captures energy generated while decelerating and feeds it back to the electric battery pack that powers the vehicle. When the truck idles, the engine shuts off.
Like other Dominion medium-duty trucks, the hybrids run on B20 biodiesel, which is composed of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent vegetable oil. Company officials say the hybrids get about 9 mpg.
The savings in gas comes when one of the trucks is being used for work underneath a utility pole. A regular diesel truck sits and idles, allowing the engine to power the needed accessories on the truck. The hybrid instead uses electric motors to run the truck, and the diesel engine restarts only occasionally to charge the battery.
A hybrid truck’s price is just under $200,000, about $50,000 more than a standard truck. Company officials don’t know whether the extra cost is justified.
“We don’t know, that’s why we have a couple of them, so we can learn,” said Rodney Blevins, vice president of electric operations.
The company Wednesday also displayed one of three Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids. The cars were converted using an A123 Hymotion L5 plug-in conversion module, which costs about $11,000. The cars will achieve 100 mpg for between 30 and 40 miles before the battery pack need recharging, the company said. The module installs in the spare tire well and weighs 180 pounds.
The pack can be recharged in about five hours, at a cost of about 50 cents, using a standard extension cord, Dominion says.
The company is using the cars to evaluate what effect plug-in hybrids will have on future electric demand and will share its findings with the Department of Energy.
Larry Printz, (757) 446-2220, larry.printz@pilotonline.com
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If it was working...
I guess that this shows how reliable Dominion power is. Why not plug the trucks into Dominions power and let the engine stay off all the time?
Well, if the power was working, why would you need the truck in the first place?
Save the oil, burn blubber!
I guess that this shows how reliable Dominion power is. Why not plug the trucks into Dominions power and let the engine stay off all the time?
Kind of irrelevant
What is the cost difference per gallon of biodiesel compared to regular diesel?
It doesn't really matter, since that's nothing a special. Any diesel can run off veritable oil so they could stick that label on any truck they own.
The electric accessories on the other hand are useful but it's hard to say if they're $50K useful. Running the crane and such off batteries means the engine doesn't have to idle all the time where most of the energy is wasted as heat coming from the radiator.
Dom-R's new energy efficient vehicle idea
Dom-R is showing off its green credentials with electric hybrid trucks. A hybrid truck’s price is just under $200,000, about $50,000 more than a standard truck. The hybrids also run on B20 biodiesel, which is composed of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent vegetable oil. Company officials say the hybrids get about 9 mpg?
* What is the cost difference per gallon of biodiesel compared to regular diesel?
Dom-R's Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids cars will achieve 100 mpg for between 30 and 40 miles before the battery pack needs recharging which will take about five hours. In addition, due to battery packs, the weight of the Prius is greater.
* So, what does one do after arriving to a meeting after 30 to 40 miles distance and needing to return a half hour later?
Somehow, I don't get it. . .
Respectfully, Dom-R Stockholder
Not really
The cars will achieve 100 mpg for between 30 and 40 miles before the battery pack need recharging
Well, not really. They run off mostly coal energy for 30-40 miles and then switch back to gasoline. That's an old standard green-scam marketing trick of quoting fuel efficiencies and leaving out the fuel that was used to create the electricity.
The other one, a favorite of Tesla motors, is quote range and then maximum power output but not the power output needed to obtain that range.