CLEVELAND (AFX) - UPS will begin testing its newly developed hydraulic hybrid diesel delivery truck -- designed to boost fuel economy while cutting pollution -- in the Detroit area before bringing it to Cleveland for further tests, officials said on Monday.
The federal government first displayed a UPS model hydraulic hybrid truck in June.
The difference between the test truck and a typical UPS truck is a high-efficiency diesel engine and a hydraulic propulsion system designed by Cleveland-based Eaton Corp.
The truck uses pumps and storage tanks to recover energy, similar to electric motors and batteries in hybrid electric delivery trucks.
The Cleveland test site will complement one in Detroit to determine whether the vehicles can be as fuel efficient and reliable as expected with technology aimed at achieving a 60 percent to 70 percent improvement in fuel economy and more than a 40 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Atlanta-based UPS partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency, Eaton, International Truck and Engine Corp. and the Army in February 2005 to develop a green fleet of low-emissions vehicles.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.