Hino is celebrating a decade of selling Hybrid trucks in Australia and one public operation has renewed its faith in the diesel/electric Hinos by training its operation staff.
While it is hard to believe the Hybrid truck concept has been on Aussie roads for 10 years, the City of Darwin was the first local council in Australia to purchase Hino 300 Hybrids, adding them to its fleet back in 2007.
Darwin Council renewed its trust in hybrid technology by putting its operations staff through training at its Winnellie headquarters recently.
Council workers were taken through a diagnostics and product familiarisation course focused on the Hino Hybrid battery unit that was conducted by Hino Australia’s Fleet Training Manager Sergio Bonvini.
City of Darwin’s Fleet Manager Peter Newcombe said Hybrid trucks are becoming commonplace in its fleet.
“It’s getting harder to compare the Hybrid versus diesel performance in our fleet because we’re running out of diesel trucks to compare them to,” he said.
Mr Newcombe says a reduced carbon footprint and improved cost of ownership has been influential in the Hino Hybrid purchasing decision.
“We’ve seen a 15.84 per cent economy advantage [over diesels] in our urban applications, helping us improve our bottom line and reduce costs over the life of the Hino Hybrid.
“Hybrid technology also reduces our carbon output significantly, which is an advantage you can’t put a price on,” Mr Newcombe said.
The City of Darwin currently operates 13 Hino 300 Series Hybrids and will add seven more to replace existing diesel variants in the next year.
The Hino 300 Series Hybrid trucks are used for landscape maintenance and waste management duties.
City of Darwin also participates in Hybrid driver training held by local dealership Vanderfield Hino to further maximise economical operation of the Hino Hybrid vehicles.
The Hino 300 Series Hybrid is Australia’s premier and market-leading hybrid light duty truck with 454 Hino Hybrids sold (as of April 2016) since launch.
