Early next year TNT, Royal Mail, Scottish and Southern Energy, Amey, Tesco, DHL and Ringway will conduct extensive trials with their own Mitsubishi Fuso Eco Hybrid Canters. The 10 trucks, all Japanese-spec 7.5-tonners, will enter service in London. Their performance will be closely monitored by the operators, Mercedes-Benz and also Transport for London - which will be overseeing the three-year trial. Last week, in Stuttgart, we were given the chance to try out the TNT vehicle.
At a glance the Canter Eco Hybrid looks almost identical to its diesel-powered equivalent - which in our opinion is a good thing. If you make a van or truck look radically different to everything else on the road you run the risk of alienating the driver. It's a similar story from behind the wheel, with the only notable difference being a few more dials and digital displays for the driver to monitor.
Turn the ignition key and you are greeted with the familiar sound of the Canter's 3-litre diesel engine. The Eco Hybrid comes with an automated gearshift as standard, making it an incredibly simple vehicle to drive. For this reason no form of training will be offered to the drivers of the UK test trucks. You simply engage drive, and away you go.
In order to get the most from the parallel hybrid system, it is important to feather the accelerator pedal. Push your foot to the floor and the truck behaves and sounds like a regular diesel-powered Canter. Press gently
and the vehicle moves off in electric mode - providing smooth and relatively swift acceleration. It is an odd sensation to accelerate while the diesel engine remains in tick-over.
However, before the speedometer hits 10kmph, the combustion engine has sprung into life. From this point onwards you are running in diesel/electric mode, normally about 75% diesel, and 25% electric - although this depends on the strength of the batteries. At speed the truck is notably quieter than a regular Canter, resulting in a more relaxing driving experience.
Take your foot off the accelerator and the truck slows down rapidly - a consequence of the regenerative braking system. This provides valuable charge to the lithium-ion batteries, and also has the advantage of extending the life of the service brakes.
When you consider that the truck runs as an electric vehicle only at low speeds, it becomes obvious that the greatest fuel economy benefits are going to be experienced by urban operators. The more low-speed manoeuvres you do, the less diesel you burn. Add to this the Motor Stop Start facility (Mercedes-Benz's anti-idling device), and it's easy to understand how companies carrying-out multi-drop work in congested urban areas are likely to achieve a fuel improvement of around 20%. Use a hybrid truck for regional distribution and Mercedes estimates this figure to fall to about 6%.
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