COOLEST HYBRID EVER! Seriously!

[Flakbadger]

So, bigger, more powerful, and Caterpillar all combined with "hybrid" and the link mentioning mining, makes me think it's a hybrid-drive mining dump truck. One of the super-large ones with a 100+ liter engine, coupled with hybrid drive?
That is my guess. Except I thought they were already a diesel-electric drive system, with electric hub motors powered by a tremendous motor?

[gone-ot]

Caterpillar is making a "towed Diesel generator range-extender" for EV's to tow behind on long trips!?!?

...with a built-in A/C for genuine "cool" factor?

[Cobb]

Unlike someone we know I can talk out my ass regarding the vehicles the company I use to work for sells. The company I use to work for sells hybrid cng powered vehicles. Commercial Truck, Truck Equipment | Richmond, VA and Commercial Truck, Truck Equipment | Richmond, VA

Before I lsft the truck mounted aerial business in 07 alte or tere was making hybrid bucket trucks. They used a 3 pack of batteries and an electric motor to power the hydrolic pump to power everything so the engine didnt have to be left running. Granted most of those trucks comes with a 12 volt emergency back up system for the aerial stuff, that was ment to only be used in short bursts and emergencies. Most people use it in conjunction with the engine to make it move faster.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

nah, he's afraid of bugs, so he's afraid of *this* Caterpiller (wink,wink):


...do you know *how* hard it is to get one of them to 'run around' inside a squirrel cage--without being eaten by the squirrel???

that is the cutiest little bug I have ever seen!!!

[jamesqf]

If it's Caterpillar, it's not really new. They've had their "hybrid" diesel-electric dozer - the D7E - out for a couple of years now.

I put hybrid in quotes, because it's actually a diesel-electric drive, like many locomotives, with no energy storage.

[Tango Charlie]

From the press release;

"Unique among all machines within the Caterpillar exhibit and throughout the hundreds of MINExpo displays, the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) SD70ACe locomotive—painted in Caterpillar yellow—will give the mining world an opportunity to explore the railroad technology that transports minerals to market. At 420,000 pounds (190,509 kg), the massive locomotive earns its place alongside some of the largest mobile equipment in the world. SD70ACe locomotives run in mining operations across the globe, including the United States, Canada, South America, the Middle East, Africa and Australia."

[jamesqf]

Just thought of a new contender for the "Coolest Hybrid Ever" title: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly–polar_bear_hybrid

[bennelson]

Here's some more about the CAT exhibit at Minexpo '12
https://mining.cat.com/MINExpo but that really doesn't cover what I wanted to talk about. Grr.... they must have a video press release somewhere...

Hmm. Here's a video they produced before the event as a preview to it. It looks cool, but of course doesn't give away their reveal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlo5v_LM0I

[bennelson]

Ha ha! Finally found some of the info I was looking for! (Just posted to YouTube yesterday!)

The latest hybrid that I've seen that just impressed the heck out of me is the Cat 6120B! It's a huge piece of mining equipment that gets 25% better fuel economy over the previous version. Peep the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFgoAg0jmVs

There's a few cool things about it that AREN'T mentioned in the video, so I STILL can't talk about those...

From their video:
"Caterpillar has designed, fabricated and constructed the largest hydraulic mining shovel ever built. The new Cat® 6120B H FS significantly exceeds the size of the Cat 6090 FS to deliver highly productive three- or four-pass loading of ultra-class mining trucks. Innovative hybrid technologies cut fuel use per ton by an estimated 25 percent—through the use of hydra-electric regenerative technologies and a unique energy storage system. Learn more at http://mining.cat.com/hydraulic-shovels."

In case you don't know, "regenerative technologies" means that this thing has regen-braking, and not just on the propulsion system, if you are swinging a big load, and go to slow or stop the swing, it regens! Just think - regenerative digging!

For a "unique energy storage system", just think of some way to store energy WITHOUT batteries....

No, I had nothing to do with the locomotive they had on display at the Minexpo, but I got to do some work on the 6120B Hybrid!

[bennelson]

The 6120B Hybrid was too big to bring to Las Vegas to show off. (It shows up on Google Maps though...)

Here's a video somebody shot at the show with a 3D model of the machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOKBJ9vIVhA

This thing is big - like 4-story building big.

I worked on a video on it, but I can't find that video. I think it's something that they used at their trade-show booth for the product launch, but hasn't been posted to YouTube or elsewhere.