Free Republic

Ford is working with the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power and Folsom Technologies to develop a prototype F-150 light-duty pickup truck propelled by a hydraulic hybrid powertrain. Hydraulic hybrids differ considerably from gas-electric hybrids, like the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Hybrid, but the goal is the same: to improve fuel efficiency. “We have the potential to reach 40 miles per gallon or higher with hydraulic power,” said Perry Li, co-deputy director of CCEFP and a mechanical engineering professor. “But we feel like we don’t give up anything versus an electric hybrid, and there are no batteries and nothing to...

What if there was a hybrid vehicle technology that could at least double the gas mileage of passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks? What if it could slash emissions by 50 percent or more? And what if it could challenge our usual mileage expectations by offering better fuel consumption in the city than on the highway? Even better from an engineering and manufacturing standpoint, what if this hybrid technology didn’t rely on expensive, heavy, bulky battery technologies that aren’t really ready for prime time and instead used a time-tested energy storage method? Well, there is just such a hybrid-vehicle technology,...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After badgering American manufacturers to produce cleaner, more-fuel-efficient vehicles, the Environmental Protection Agency is about to see its first product hit the streets. The engineers at the EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory here have built and tested many prototypes over the years, including a diesel-hydraulic passenger car that gets more than 80 miles per gallon. But the first EPA-influenced product to travel beyond the laboratory will be a garbage truck. The garbage truck -- slated for rollout next year -- is a hybrid vehicle. Most hybrids use two power sources. In this case, the...