TORRANCE, Calif. — American Honda Motor Company has announced it is introducing a Class 8 hybrid diesel-electric truck into its parts delivery truck fleet.

Built for Honda by Peterbilt, the Smartway-certified Model 386 hybrid is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 45 tonnes per year, as compared to its diesel counterpart.

Honda uses Class 8 trucks to transport service parts between its parts centers and dealerships. The company’s diesel truck fleet, operated by its truck fleet partner UPS Freight Truckload, typically travels 300,000 miles per day.

The hybrid truck will be utilized on two routes – a hilly route in Tennessee and a relatively flat one in Georgia – in order to evaluate the truck’s fuel economy under various driving conditions. Honda states that it will alternate the hybrid with a standard diesel truck, and will collect data using engine telematics to accurately compare the performance of the two trucks on the same routes. Testing and evaluation will take place over the next year.

“We’re excited to add this environmentally advanced truck to our fleet,” said Jim Roach, senior vice-president of parts and service for American Honda. “With our truck fleet driving hundreds of thousands of miles per day, we feel this is a great opportunity for Honda to further reduce its carbon footprint.”

The hybrid truck operates much like a hybrid passenger vehicle, utilizing a parallel diesel-electric hybrid system developed by Eaton. Similar to Honda’s hybrid vehicles, Peterbilt’s truck captures energy during braking and stores it in its system’s batteries. The system also improves fuel efficiency and lowers emissions by powering the heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems via a no-idle auxiliary power unit while the engine is off, according to Honda.