SMUD gets 14 plug-in hybrid Dodge Rams for testing
The Sacramento Municipal Utility DistrictbizWatch takes delivery Wednesday of 14 plug-in hybrid electric Dodge Ram pickups on loan for three years from Chrysler Group LLC.
The plug-in hybrid Ram 1500 pickups are part of a national demonstration fleet of 140 vehicles being delivered to a dozen cities. Agencies that were awarded the vehicles will report regularly to Chrysler on how they are operating.
Chrysler aims to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles, charging, fuel economy, emissions and the pickups’ impact on the region’s electric grid.
Chrysler said cities were carefully selected to help the automaker collect a wide range of data. Sacramento and San Francisco, which received 14 pickups Tuesday, are second and third cities to receive the vehicles and the only two cities in California participating in the project. San Francisco’s vehicles will be used by a variety of government offices to test hills and stop-and-go traffic.
Earlier this year, Chrysler delivered 10 similar vehicles to the city of Yuma, Ariz.
SMUD has been testing alternative fuel vehicles for more than two decades. The trucks will be used in everyday utility business.
Cities and states were selected to evaluate temperature extremes and urban traffic cycles.
The RAM 1500 includes a liquid-cooled 12.9 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery and a 6.6 kilowatt on-board charger. It has several other unique features, including a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine and a two-mode hybrid transmission. The engine is equipped with technology that improves fuel efficiency at highway speeds by shutting down fuel delivery to up to four cylinders.
“Sacramento offers heavy traffic and urban driving that (is) ideal to test,” Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager at Chrysler’s advanced hybrid vehicle project. “The constant charging allows us to measure impact on battery life and charging efficiency.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/
Related Websites - Diesel Electric Hybrids The diesel electric hybrid has been used in Europe for decades in various forms, but has only recently come to the attention and desire of the United States. The first model to be expected that...
- Glossary: What is a Hybrid Car? As hybrid cars gain in popularity, many people find themselves asking "What is a hybrid car?" To answer this question, we are supplying a mini lexicon of hybrid car terms and hybrid car technology terms....
- Why Should You Buy a Hybrid It is important to be brutally honest when it comes to why you should buy a hybrid. One of the top reasons why it would be in your best interest to buy a hybrid car...
- Go Green and Save Money by Picking the Right Car Guest Post Author Bio: This post was written by Money Supermarket. Picking the right car is a far more complicated job than what it used to be. In the olden days you could just choose...
- Green Electric Hybrid Car There is a revolution going on right now that has many consumers purchasing electric cars, hybrid cars and other green vehicles and cars as a means of increasing the efficiency of their vehicles while decreasing...
