Four utilities are among companies adding Odyne hybrid trucks to their fleets.
Odyne Systems, LLC, bills itself as a leader in hybrid systems for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
A development project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy is now complete, and DUECO, Inc., the final-stage truck-maker has delivered them to customers.
Electric Light & Power said the utilities that are putting the new vehicles on the road include:
- Choptank Electric Cooperative, a Maryland based Touchstone Energy Cooperative, took delivery of a plug-in hybrid bucket truck with a Terex HR42M aerial device to be used in maintenance of electric lines. Choptank is the first electric cooperative to take delivery of the new Odyne advanced hybrid power system.
- Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, providing natural gas and electricity to 6.8 million of Michigan's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties, took delivery of a plug-in hybrid utility truck with a Terex 5FC55 55' aerial device.
- NiSource, a utility in Northern Indiana, took delivery of a plug-in hybrid bucket truck with a Terex TL41 aerial device for use in maintenance and construction of its electrical utility grid.
- NV Energy will use its plug-in hybrid underground utility vehicle featuring a Vanair underdeck compressor for maintenance of underground natural gas infrastructure in the Reno, Nevada area. This unit had been built for NV Energy as a conventional vehicle, and Odyne retrofitted its advanced plug-in hybrid power system to enhance its efficiency.
