Hydraulic Hybrid Semi's to Take to the Road

[Tuckerfan1053]

This idea seems strangely familiar.

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC), a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America, has made an initial 20 unit commercial commitment for a series hydraulic drive system from Parker Hannifin. (Earlier post, earlier post.) The commitment came as part of a grant under the United States Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program and was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

[Prototype]

Tucker could very well have succeded developing and producing the fluid drive. There were no provisions for his design to go in reverse, but given more time and money he could have miniaturised the mechanics to make it feasible. It has been done on a similar scale for mini-excavators. Ther are many types of industrial machinery that utilize full hydraulic power systems in which the gasoline or more common diesel is used strictly for hydraulic drive pumps and electrical genertion. I think another reason why Tucker ran out of both time and money was that he so intent on producing only the best car he thought possible and nothing less than what we have left in the surviving examples.