Automotive

Hybrid Humvee? US Army shows its diesel hybrid field vehicle

Hybrid Humvee? US Army shows its diesel hybrid field vehicle
That's no Toyota Prius
That's no Toyota Prius
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That's no Toyota Prius
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That's no Toyota Prius

Still think hybrids and green cars are meek and hipsterish? Plant your eyes on the US Army's Fuel Efficient ground vehicle Demonstrator Bravo. It's one of the burliest vehicles you've likely seen in years, and it's all hybrid underneath its rugged metal shell.

If you think you spend a lot of money on gas, imagine how much money the world's most powerful military – with its tanks, generators, military bases, Jeeps and on and on – must spend on gas every day. Since being the world military leader also empowers you to, say, go out and develop the most advanced hybrid vehicle technology the world has ever seen, it's not too surprising to see the Army putting some of its resources toward building a cleaner, cheaper wheel.

The FED Bravo builds on the original FED concept shown last fall (the FED Alpha, in true US military fashion), adding mobile power supply equipment – besides running partially on electric power, the FED Bravo can also feed power into a microgrid for use at small military outposts.

In addition to its new role as mobile power station, the FED Bravo uses a completely different powertrain from the Alpha. In place of the original Cummins four-cylinder engine, the Bravo features a more powerful 4.4-liter twin-turbo Ford V-8 worth 268 hp. It gets its green cred from a road-coupled parallel hybrid drive system with a front-mounted electric motor and rear-integrated hybrid system. An engine start-stop system adds further fuel savings.

The Army didn't get into what type of fuel economy we're talking (probably because the fuel economy of a 17,000-lb (7,711-kg) armored truck wouldn't be all that impressive to the average consumer anyway), but when it first showed the non-hybrid Alpha model, it said that it would burn up to 70 percent less fuel than a standard up-armored Humvee. The New York Times reports that the Bravo gets 8.2 mpg (28.L/100 km) city and 14.2 mpg (16.5 L/100 km) highway, about double the numbers for a regular Humvee.

Proving it isn't any compact hybrid sissy, the FED Bravo uses an armored cab atop a tubular space frame designed to increase rigidity-to-weight ratio, not to mention a V-shaped hull for blast protection.

The Army received Department of Defense funding for the project and worked with a group of 18 students from Detroit's College for Creative Studies. The concept was developed at the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Michigan with industry partner World Technical Services, Inc. The Army showed the concept at the recent Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, which took place late last month.

Source: US Army, New York Times

15 comments
15 comments
VoiceofReason
Ok...it gets 70% better mileage than the up-armored. Will it take anywhere near the same blast?
Slowburn Fan
why is it so ugly? is that pink?
Take it off any sweet jumps?
Slowburn
re; VoiceofReason
It will probably take bigger blasts because it is armored to the same standard and the shape is better.
L1ma
Re VoiceofReason
No you are right, it is still a rectanglular box with blast traps where the wheels are where all the current generation wheeled personel carriers use the V shaped hull. In fact the up armoured HUMVEE is still not an IED resistant vehicle.
Casspir and Mamba APC type chassais are the sort of vehicle's needed when the front line is the supply line in insurgency warfare. Ignore the pretty shape and the armour spec, form is more important than beauty.
LaShon Smith
that is ugly!! but cool too
Ross Jenkins
It's interesting that it's appearance even matters. considering it purpose. But it does matter. because it's the first thing the enemy see's of you. You want him to think twice about his actions before committing them.
L1ma
Re; Ross Jenkins
I beleive the right answer is that the insurgents by their very nature are not afraid of consequences of their actions for you or for them, many of which live as though already dead.
The problem is with the IED, which is a device which when planted gives the highest chance of escape and evasion for the insurgent. The only way of properly dealing with it is to watch every living soul like a hawk until they try to plant one.
VoiceofReason
Slow...where does it say that? It says it gets better mileage.....so does a VW Beetle, but it also won't take a hit. Armor always adds weight. Weight always decreases mileage.
It mentions blast protection but not to what level.
If they wanted a vehicle that got better mileage they could have just had Detroit build a hybrid four door pickup with some added armor and achieved the same results for less cost.
Observer101
WHEN are they going to build a vehicle that has independent electric wheel motors, on all 4 wheels, each driven by a diesel powered generating system? Seems the Diesel could run at a constant, low rpm speed, and the beauty would be that it would be a "power on demand" system to each wheel. Additionally, they could be "disconnected" if a wheel or motor becomes "disabled". It might just be a heck of a lot more economical to operate as well....
Joel Detrow
Better blast protection than a Humvee, that's practically a guarantee. Stop complaining, folks.
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