American engineers took a heavy military truck with a hybrid power plant to the proving ground. The multi-ton colossus silently flew up the hills and descended into hollows, raising dust from the road. However, this car will not have to rest in the parking lot either.
The intricate name of this green monster - Heavy Expanded Mobility Technical Truck (HEMTT-A3) - hides eight wheels, 13 tons of carrying capacity, the ability to overcome a 60 percent grade and accelerate on a solid dirt road up to 105 kilometers per hour.
But the main highlight of the novelty, developed on the basis of a serial off-road truck, is that the car has a hybrid drive (named by the developers as ProPulse), which allows driving not only on diesel, but also on batteries.
Against the background of the growing popularity of hybrid passenger cars, the appearance on the test track of a hybrid truck, and even such a heavy class, looks like a curiosity. It seems that everyone has long understood that the higher price of hybrids allows them to be recouped due to fuel economy only after many years of intensive operation. So is the game worth the candle?
Hybrid drive offers other benefits for the car besides lower gasoline costs (or, in the case of army trucks, diesel fuel).
But first, all the same about saving. The company says the hybrid giant uses an average of 20% less fuel compared to a similar but purely diesel truck, the HEMTT-A2.
A savings of 20% is not bad. Consumption of the standard version of the eight-wheeled "rogue" from Oshkosh is 59-78 liters per 100 kilometers.
However, it is not fuel economy (and money costs) as such that is important for an army vehicle, but an increase in the maximum power reserve on one tank. Now it is 773 kilometers against 644 for the diesel analogue. For generals who are enthusiastic about drawing arrows on maps, this increase in "reach" means, sometimes, the possibility or impossibility of supplying ammunition and fuel to the front line.
The HEMTT-A3 uses a 400 horsepower diesel engine that drives a 305 kilowatt generator. A 460-volt electric motor drives the wheels through the transmission.
The batteries in the car are unusual - these are supercapacitors with a total capacity of 1.5 megajoules. Frankly speaking, in comparison with the energy content of diesel fuel - crumbs. You won't get far. But if the diesel engine is out of order (in combat conditions), even the 150, or even all 400 meters of travel given by these batteries, among stones, sand and shell craters, can mean the difference between life and death for the crew.
There is one more important advantage of the hybrid HEMTT over its usual relative. Replacing a diesel engine in the field on a serial machine takes up to 24 hours, and on a hybrid one - 20 minutes. Thanks to the modular design and the absence of a mechanical link between the diesel and wheels.
Agree, in a war, this saved time can also mean saving someone's lives.
By the way, about salvation. Gary Schmiedel, Oshkosh Truck's VP of Advanced Development, said during the trials: "First of all, this is a truck …". So what is next? And then here's the thing: This car can supply external consumers with 200 kilowatts of top-notch alternating current.
This means that in the event of natural disasters (or the same war) HEMTT-A3 can power a small city block or, say, a hospital. And the military will find a use for this energy - when deploying bases and command posts, or the same hospitals in the field.
Previously, for these purposes, you had to carry a heavy diesel generator with you, or even more than one. And on what? That's right - on the truck. The question is, why drag a healthy engine in the back when there is already one under the hood?
It is curious that the hybrid turned out to be not heavier, but even by 1, 3 tons lighter than the diesel progenitor - thanks to the use of a lighter internal combustion engine (on a standard car, the diesel is more powerful), simplified transmission and a number of other technical solutions.
And if for an ordinary HEMTT the military is happy to lay out from $ 200 thousand to $ 400 thousand (depending on the equipment), then they will surely agree to fork out for a hybrid, taking into account its versatile talents.
