At a Swedish Embassy event in Washington DC recently, the Volvo Group rolled out its internally developed hybrid technology for heavy vehicles, I-SAM. The event was part of the Volvo Group's broad-based investment in commercially viable hybrid technology for heavy vehicles. Among other items, the Volvo Group demonstrated a construction truck with hybrid drive ordered by the United States Air Force.
Technology unveiled included a construction truck from the Volvo Group's Mack subsidiary, a Mack Granite, which is equipped with a hybrid driveline and was developed for the US Air Force. Development of the truck was carried out in close cooperation with the US Air Force, which earlier also was involved in producing a prototype of a tanker truck with hybrid drive.
I-SAM (Integrated Starter Alternator Motor) can provide fuel savings of up to 35% depending on application area and driving conditions. The first vehicles are expected to enter production in 2009. The group is also developing hybrid technology for construction equipment, such as wheel loaders, in which the fuel savings can be up to 50%.
