Thursday, January 21, 2010

Los Angeles Port Plans to Test Hybrid Big Rigs

The Southern California Port of Los Angeles is negotiating with an El Segundo, Calif.-based manufacturer for the purchase of eight plug-in electric/hydrogen fuel cell hybrid Tyrano big rigs.

The eight zero-emission Tyrano trucks– a design that has been under development for more than four years by maker Vision Industries– will be used as part of a year-long test to determine the hybrid trucks' suitability for short- and medium-distance cargo-hauling applications.

The hybrid Tyrano trucks– each costing about $250,000 and running on a combination of lithium batteries and hydrogen fuel cells– reportedly generate 450 horsepower and feature a range of up to 400 miles.

The test of the eight rigs will be conducted by several local drayage firms with data from the testing being overseen by an environmental team from the University of California, Riverside.
The neighboring Port of Long Beach is also reportedly in talks with Vision regarding the Tyrano trucks.