Posted Monday, August 25, 2008 -- 5:10 pm
By Zac Schultz

Madison: It's no big thing to see hybrid cars on the road, but the first couple medium duty hybrid trucks were in Madison Monday.

A utility truck on display features a 600 pound battery that provides all the power needed to run the cherry picker. That way you don't need to run the engine while using the bucket. "Obviously you get the benefit of no noise in the urban (environment), but the fuel savings of that engine not running the whole time, anywhere would be a huge benefit," says Joe Morris, who works for Kenworth Truck Company.

Morris says the hybrid engine allows the diesel engine to idle while the electric battery does the early work. "Every time you start out from a stop, like at a red light, the electric motor is actually what's moving vehicle. Then the diesel engine will kick in later as more horse power is required to move the vehicle."

"It was a different experience." Lee Sauer is Shop Manager for the Marquette County Highway Department. He took the hybrid delivery truck for a spin. "It feels like a golfcart when you take off cause it is an electric drive, after that it takes over with the diesel power and drives like a normal truck."

Tim Pellitteri brought his mechanic and dispatcher along for a closer look. "We came out today to see what it can do, take a look at the technology and see if it's something we can add to our fleet."

Early tests show the hybrids can save 30% on fuel costs. Pellitteri Waste runs a big fleet of garbage trucks and fuel is almost half of their budget. "Diesel gas is pretty expensive, so any way to help offset that cost we're going to take a look at."

The hybrid engines cost an extra $50,000 but fuel savings should earn that back within seven to 10 years.

Early production is very small, with only 1,500 to be built in 2009, but as prices come down, most expect these to be the work trucks of the future.

Don't expect to see hybrid semi's anytime soon. Morris says the future for the big rigs will be to run them off natural gas with a battery to run extras like the power windows and fan.