Life-Cycle Assessment of Diesel-Electric Hybrid and Conventional Diesel Trucks for Deliveries

Purolator is a Canadian courier company that recently introduced hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) into their fleets. This paper estimates the fuel savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions for Purolator’s hybrid trucks using a life-cycle assessment executed with GHGenius, a Government of Canada model. Overall, it was found that Purolator’s hybrid diesel trucks reduce GHG emissions by 23% and 8% for city and highway driving, respectively. The results confirm that switching to an HEV fleet could reduce CO₂ emissions during vehicle operations by 25%, as the vehicle manufacturer (Azure Dynamics) has advertised. Moreover, the modeled emission reductions (1,668 t CO₂-eq) and fuel savings (609,000 L) over a distance of 5,200,000 km are similar to Purolator’s advertised values (1,900 t CO₂-eq, 645,000 L). The life-cycle costs of hybrid delivery trucks do not presently make them financially favorable alternatives to conventional diesel trucks, but their financial competitiveness is sensitive to vehicle service life, diesel fuel price, assumed discount rate, and incremental hybrid cost.