UPS announced updates to 125 hybrid electric delivery trucks that extend their range and improve fuel economy as part of the company’s broader Rolling Laboratory approach.     
 
A compact, quiet-running 2-cylinder engine replaces a prior 4-cylinder engine to extend their range, improve performance and fuel efficiency. The updated trucks deliver significant fuel economy equivalency gains – up to four times the fuel economy of a gasoline-powered vehicle. They will be deployed in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio and Texas later this year.
 
The updated E-GENTM chassis with the integrated 650 cc engine by Workhorse Group, Inc., a Cincinnati-based company, was announced by Carlton Rose, UPS Global Fleet Maintenance and Engineering president at the annual Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, Calif.
 
“These vehicles are a great example of the impact our Rolling Lab approach is having,” Rose said. “Our real-world testing of this new technology revealed opportunities to improve its performance and efficiency, which led to the development of a more advanced propulsion system.”
 
The trucks were purchased under UPS’s commitment to log 1 billion miles with alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles by the end of 2017.
 
“These low-emission trucks are designed specifically to meet the stop and start needs of UPS’s urban delivery routes, while driving unprecedented fuel and maintenance savings,” said Steve Burns, CEO of Workhorse. “This new system enables the vehicle to accommodate UPS’s typical route on battery energy and uses a very small internal combustion engine to add additional energy to the batteries when and if needed and eliminates range anxiety.”