edfoxx68
usa
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They’ve been using Diesel hybrid technology in buses and locomotives
for years. Why haven’t we seen these in cars and trucks? If a gas hybrid car can get 40 to 50 mpg it should be a no brainier to use a Diesel. Imagine towing your trailer or driving your motor home and getting 20 or even more mpg. 
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crashpilot
Green River, WY
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Locomotives are powered with diesel/electric where the diesel engine turns a generator and the generator operates the electric trucks under the engine. What people are calling "hybrids" in the automobile world is something completely different.
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Kenneth
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There are a few hybrid city buses, but keep in mind their usage cycle...many starts where the battery helps the engine get the bus going, lots of braking where regenerative braking helps the batteries get recharged. A hybrid tow vehicle would creep up long hills after the batteries become depleted--plus the weight of the batteries would reduce the payload of the truck.
As Crash said, there are no hybrid locomotives. The engine-generator-motor system is a simple way for gearing and gear reduction, as well as making for an easy lay out.
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edfoxx68
usa
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Ok I got that. But a Diesel hybrid truck CAN be built and it can be used to tow. The point is still valid, GM has already proved that with a GAS hybrid truck design. I expect to see these types of cars and trucks soon with fuel cost as it is. I'd buy one. My dealer has me on the list for the new 2009 VW Jetta TDI Wagon. We were planning to buy one before gas went north, but the production was delayed. 
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fordsooperdootydieselsmoker
OrangeCountyCalifornia
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The Chrysler corp and others have built and operated fleets of turbine vehicles for testing that used a small jet turbine to turn a generator, which either charged a battery pack or not, and provided power to electric drive motors. Since the turbines were flex fuel and ran on kerosene, diesel, jet fuel and even grain alcohol...and ran at a constant rpm, they were very efficient. Basically the same system used daily in locomotives. God knows why this technology was shelved! Sort of like the Saturn EV1 all electric car being given up on by GM.
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david_42
Oregon
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You only get better mileage in hybrids when you reduce the size of the main engine. So, if you were willing to cut back to 100 hp max, you'd see an improvement. The diesel hybrids that are being used get about 40% better city mileage, but very little improvement on the highway. Takes raw power to push a 40,000 pound box at 80!
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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I would call a diesel-electric locomotive a hybrid. Think of a hybrid. What is it? It's a small internal combustion engine that drives a generator that powers an electric motor that powers the car. That is, for all practical purposes, how a locomotive operates. I would call the diesel-electric power systems in locomotives and ships the pioneers of the use of hybrid technology that resulted in hybrid cars.
In any event, if a diesel hybrid pickup or suv can be built for public or personal use, I'm all for it. Gasoline hybrids are being made. I dont see why a diesel hybrid is so out of the question. It's only a different fuel powering the internal combustion engine.
If the generator provides enough juice for the electric motor in continuous operation, it doesn't matter about the batteries.
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ib516
Sask, Canada
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Dodge Cummins Hybrid 2500/3500
Another article on the Ram 2500/3500 Cummins Hybrid
Another saying it was "in production"
These are older articles (~2004). Look like they decided against it for some reason. I recall reading about it being a possibility, and I know they built a few test mules.
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8.1 Van
Millstone NJ
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Right, pay a huge amount of money on a Diesel hybrid to save money on fuel.
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Kenneth
Washington, the state
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SoCalDesertRider wrote:I would call a diesel-electric locomotive a hybrid. Think of a hybrid. What is it? It's a small internal combustion engine that drives a generator that powers an electric motor that powers the car. That is, for all practical purposes, how a locomotive operates. I would call the diesel-electric power systems in locomotives and ships the pioneers of the use of hybrid technology that resulted in hybrid cars.
In any event, if a diesel hybrid pickup or suv can be built for public or personal use, I'm all for it. Gasoline hybrids are being made. I dont see why a diesel hybrid is so out of the question. It's only a different fuel powering the internal combustion engine.
If the generator provides enough juice for the electric motor in continuous operation, it doesn't matter about the batteries. Whoa, you're way off base. Nothing small about the engines in a locomotive. They're the biggest one or two engines that can fit there. I've never heard anyone else call them a hybrid, just diesel-electric.
I've worked on steam turbo-electric drive ships. These were WWII tankers that had electric drive because the country could not make enough gear sets*. The main turbine powered a generator, the generator powered a 6000 hp main propulsion motor when underway, and powered cargo pump motors in port when discharging cargo. These were less efficient (higher fuel consumption) than a geared turbine ship with direct geared drive to the propeller shaft, but it was the best we could do at the time. It wasn't a hybrid, either. Some modern passenger ships are diesel-electric drive for a couple of reasons, mainly for layout so they can cram more machinery into tighter spaces and have more passenger rooms to sell.
The point is that the hybrid vehicle relies on both the engine and the battery electric motor for power when it needs a lot of power. When the batteries are depleted, all you have left is a smallish engine, and that won't please most folks towing a heavy load up hill. Electric drive is very different. It is designed with the engine providing full power to go as fast as the guy buying the fuel wants it to go. The generator is just a different means of power transmission.
*I just learned that the U.S. can't even build the wind turbines that are beginning to generate substantial amount of our electricity. We can build about half of a unit. We can't even build the gearing. We've lost that much industrial capability.
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