American Honda Motor Co. introduced a Class 8 hybrid diesel electric truck into its truck fleet at its parts center in Alpharetta, Ga.

Built for Honda by Peterbilt Motors Company, the Smartway-certified Model 386 hybrid truck is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 45 tons per year, as compared to its diesel counterpart.

Honda uses Class 8 trucks to transport service parts between its parts centers and dealerships. The company's diesel truck fleet, operated by its truck fleet partner, UPS Freight Truckload, typically travels 300,000 miles per day.

The hybrid truck will be utilized along two routes - a hilly route in Tennessee and a relatively flat one in Georgia - in order to evaluate the truck's fuel economy under various driving conditions. Honda will alternate the hybrid with a standard diesel truck and will collect data using engine telematics to accurately compare the performance of the two trucks on the same routes. Testing and evaluation will take place over the next year.

The hybrid truck operates much like a hybrid passenger vehicle, utilizing a parallel diesel-electric hybrid system developed by Eaton Corporation. Similar to Honda's hybrid vehicles, Peterbilt's truck captures energy during braking and stores it in its system's batteries. The system also improves fuel efficiency and lowers emissions by powering the heating, air conditioning and vehicle electrical systems utilizing a no idle auxiliary power unit while the engine is off.

Honda will also be adding a Peterbilt Class 7 medium duty hybrid truck at its parts centers in Irving, Texas, and Alpharetta, Ga.

More info: www.corporatehonda.com