ISE and Crane Carrier Company will build series hybrid trash trucks

If there is any type of vehicle that would seem ideally suited to a hybrid drive application, it is a garbage truck (right, Volvo?). With the continuous stop and go driving involved with collecting the detritus of modern civilization there is plenty of opportunity for regenerative braking and electric launch. ISE Corporation already has a series hybrid system that they've developed for transit bus applications. ISE is partnering with Crane Carrier Company to build five series hybrid trash haulers for testing in New York, Chicago and Houston. The project is being organized by the Hybrid Truck Users Forum of CALSTART. ISE's ThunderVolt system is a self-contained hybrid drive system designed for installation into existing vehicle platforms. A pair of motor-generators are mated with a combining gearbox and replace the conventional transmission unit in buses and trucks. Electrical energy storage will be handled by either nickel metal hydride batteries or ultra-capacitors.

[Source: ISE Corp]