Hybrid Cars, Hybrid Trucks, Hybrid Vans and Hybrid Motorcycles

This article is about hybrid trucks. We discuss how they are similar and different than hybrid cars. We also talk about how they tend to use E85 fuel and their miles per gallon of fuel.

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The world of hybrid vehicles was first limited to only hybrid cars. Hybrid trucks were not considered at all.  But these days, more and more auto makers are looking into the truck market to find new buyers of alternative fuel and electric plug in vehicle, including hybrid trucks .

Instead of the typical part gasoline and part electric setup, hybrid trucks mainly take the form of being alternative fuel vehicles, although there are electric/gasoline setups available in truck form.  The alternative fuel setup is mainly in the form of a “flex-fuel” vehicle, with the hybrid truck being able to use either regular unleaded gasoline or the ethanol based E85 fuel.

The main component of ethanol in the United States is corn, although sugar cane, sorghum, potatoes, and others can be used to create this fuel.

There are advantages and disadvantages with hybrid trucks.

One main advantage is that they can use the E85 blend, which uses less gasoline, and therefore reduces a country’s dependence on oil.  E85 does produce less harmful pollution than its regular gasoline counterpart.

Additionally, the price of a gallon of E85 fuel is less than regular unleaded gasoline .

One of the disadvantages is they still (overall) do not offer great fuel mileage compared to hybrid cars.  However, with the increasing investment into hybrid technology, the mileage of these vehicles should only go up in the future.

Another disadvantage is that the sticker price of hybrid trucks is typically higher than it’s gasoline or diesel engine counterpart.  When purchasing a hybrid truck, the buyer should take into consideration the cost of the technology versus the benefit they offer.

One great bit of news is that Kenworth and Peterbuilt (well known for their lines semi trucks) are working on releasing a version of their hybrid trucks that should be well received in the trucking industry.  These hybrids are reported to help save the owner-operators $10,000 or more each year, which is good news for that industry.

While hybrid trucks are not as popular as hybrid cars, they do have their place in the hybrid world.