The recent AltWheels Fleet Day shows that fleet owners are paving the way in powertrain technologies to save energy—and costs—while cutting emissions.

The annual event is held at Staples corporate headquarters in Framingham, Mass. and brings together operators, manufacturers, and development organizations. Fleet operations readily accommodate use of fuels such as natural gas or electric delivery vehicles because vehicles often return to a central depot where fueling or charging is done overnight before the next day's duty cycle.

Michael Payette, Staples fleet equipment manager, told me there are roughly 40 100-mile range Smith electric delivery trucks (below) so far in the company fleet of 2,200 vehicles (with a couple of Eaton hybrids also undergoing trials). The goal is to equal or better fleet costs/vehicle while cutting the company's emissions (i.e. carbon footprint), with the biggest benefits in fuel and maintenance expenses.

The gathering also features an alternative powertrain vehicle display and ride-and-drives. Mercedes-Benz was showing its 2010 S400 hybrid, the first production car with Li-ion batteries and an estimated combined mileage of 29 mpg. This is a mild hybrid, and so only uses electrics to "boost" engine output. With an MSRP of $94,355 Mercedes is not charging a "hybrid penalty" in cost for this version of the car. The Mercedes ML450 SUV hybrid, also on display, is a parallel hybrid and runs up to 34 mph on its dual electric motors alone. The ML450 price is in the $50k range.
 
Vehicle conversions were also highlighted. Bob Mann Auto (and the man himself) took me for a spin in the Bi-Fuel VW Jetta they converted to run on both compressed natural gas and gasoline. There is also a Bi-Fuel New Beetle. In driving, switching from one fuel to the other is seamless to the driver. Mann says the conversions run in the roughly $1,400 to $2,500 range, and, while mileage numbers run about 30 mpg—the big saving is in a 60 to 70 cents/gallon cost!

If you want to convert your Toyota Prius into a plug-in hybrid (below), Hymotion, a unit of battery developer A123 Systems, was showing its conversion module that mounts in the car's spare tire compartment (better use run-flat tires). The module is mostly a Li-ion battery made with A123's Nanophosphate^TM technology which allows running the car up to 40 miles before the gasoline engine would kick in and assume standard Prius hybrid functioning. Using a 120V outlet, a full charge takes five and a half hours at 75F. The conversion costs $10,395 plus tax (with a three year warranty), so unless you want to make a green statement, payback can be a long way off. But Doug Moorehead, program manager, said a goal is to bring the cost down into the $5k range.

Watch this blogspace where we'll cover some of the more whimsical vehicles at AltWheels.