Cargotec, Helsinki, Finland, has launched a hydraulic hybrid drive terminal tractor offering customers improved performance, significant savings in fuel costs, and reductions in nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions, it said. Paired with the Kalmar Ottawa 4x2 off-highway terminal tractor, the hydraulic hybrid system will initially be available to customers operating in North America.
The new machine is the result of Cargotec's partnership with Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd. (ST Kinetics), and its subsidiary Kinetics
Drive Solutions Inc., a leader in the research and development of hybrid technology. The Kalmar hydraulic hybrid drive terminal tractor is equipped with a parallel system that simultaneously transmits power from two distinct sources—the primary diesel engine and the secondary hydraulic motor. “The coordination of these power sources maximizes fuel economy and satisfies performance constraints,” according to Cargotec.
Mikko Vuojolainen, vice president, terminal tractors, Cargotec, said: "The normal application of a terminal tractor involves many stops and starts where frequent idling and reverse motion is common. This inconsistent use of power makes it difficult to consistently capture regenerative energy. In this application, energy is only transferred twice as opposed to four times with an electric hybrid.
"The pressure to reduce emissions at ports and in urban areas is strongest in the United States,” Vuojolainen continued. “We have engineered the Kalmar hydraulic hybrid drive terminal tractor to help customers meet ever-stricter regulations in this part of the world and to combat expensive exhaust after-treatment solutions."
Cargotec's drive to reduce fuel consumption and emissions using hybrid technology has been underway for some time. In 2008, the company claimed to be the industry’s first to offer straddle carriers and later shuttle carriers with hybrid drive systems.
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