Green vehicles on parade in NYC

Flushing Meadows Park, NY. For the 24th year, the New York City Parks Dept. hosted its annual fleet show, a day in the park intended to introduce other city agencies and nearby municipal fleets to the latest in truck technology as well as other assorted powered equipment such as lawn mowers and portable generators. As in past years, the stars of the 2012 show (putting aside the setting alongside the 1964 World’s Fair Unisphere) were green truck options headed for duty in the fleets of the Parks Dept. and other N.Y. C. agencies.

Although it won’t be on the market for a few more months as a 2013 model, Isuzu brought a prototype of its natural gas-powered NPR HD. Powered by a GM 6L V8 with hardened valves and seats, the truck carries an IMPCO Automotive NG fuel system that can accommodate a compressed gas equivalent of 32 gallons of gasoline.

This Kenworth T270 Hybrid is headed for service in the NYC Dept. of Transportation fleet where it will join a number of other hybrids already in use, according to Robert Senesi, KW’s NE regional medium duty manager. Diesel power is provided by a Cummins ISB 6.7L engine and the electric hybrid system by Eaton. The truck’s hydraulic bucket runs for up to 10 minutes on battery power alone, providing clean, quiet operation in the city’s residential neighborhoods.

This Hino 195H hybrid prototype has been field tested by the N.Y.C. Sanitation Dept. for over a year and is ready to head back to the company’s R&D facility in Japan for inspection by the company’s engineer. Given it’s positive experience with the light-duty hybrid, the department is about to put out a bid for production versions.

Flushing Meadows Park is home to the city’s first compressed natural gas fill station, installed by the parks department in 1993. The department has added two more CNG stations over the last 20 years and has just ordered a number of the new CNG-powered Chevy Express full-size van. It has over 150 CNG vehicles in its fleet.

This Mack Hybrid refuse packer is the newest addition to the Sanitation Dept.’s heavy-duty hybrid fleet, which also includes diesel electric hybrid street sweepers. Like all N.Y.C. non-emergency fleets, Sanitation uses B5 biodiesel in all of its trucks and is expected to soon join a city-wide conversion to B20.

Makers of plows, pumper bodies and other truck accessories filled out the fleet display, along with makers of maintenance and fleet management systems and supplies.

Not to be left out, full-size vans like this Freightliner Sprinter and Isuzu Reach were on hand to show off their versatility in municipal fleet applications.