On the Mitsubishi Fuso testing site, the Aero Star’s hybrid drive must prove its reliability on mountain roads as well.

Economical operation and stringent emissions limits

“An environmentally friendly image is fantastic, but ultimately commercial vehicle customers base their decisions on operating costs – and our hybrid planning activities therefore focus on this aspect,” says Eike Böhm, Vice President for Product Engineering and member of the Board of Management of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation. Right now we’re at MFTBC headquarters in Kawasaki, an industrial city southwest of Tokyo. In his friendly way, Böhm makes it very clear that the future of alternative drive systems for buses and trucks will be determined largely by the cold logic of financial calculations. When it comes to fuel consumption, however, this logic fits in perfectly with climate protection.

Still, governments will have to provide incentives, as hybrid drives for commercial vehicles remain technically sophisticated and thus much more expensive than conventional drive systems. “The hybrid version of the Fuso Aero Star costs 42 million Yen (approximately 260,000 Euro), while the conventional drive version can be bought for only 28 million Yen (around 175,000 Euro),” says Böhm. The Japanese government currently pays half of the difference, which goes a long way toward promoting environmentally friendly hybrid technology. The other half of the difference can be recouped throughout the vehicle’s service life through lower fuel consumption. What’s more, if oil prices continue to skyrocket, a hybrid commercial vehicle could pay for its added cost even sooner.

“Emission limits are also important,” says Böhm, who expects to see a growing market for commercial vehicle hybrid technology in large metropolitan areas in particular. Hybrids are already a fact of life in New York, which is home to the lion’s share of the 1,500 hybrid buses that Daimler’s U.S. subsidiary Orion has delivered in North America since 2002. This figure is extremely encouraging, as is the fact that experience in New York has shown that hybrid drives offer customers additional tangible economic benefits in the form of less wear and tear from jerking movements during acceleration. The brakes also last twice as long as those in conventional buses.