Talk of the Sound has learned that on Monday, the ElectroMotive Designs (EMD) was back in the New Rochelle City Yard to work on the BramsonMobile, the diesel-eclectic hybrid vehicle, that has become Noam Bramson’s white elephant. While attempting to push more such “green” solutions with his hare-brained “GreeNR” plan, the Mayor and the City continue to claim that the truck will deliver “significant” fuel savings
The truck was converted to a “diesel-eclectic” engine at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Due to ongoing problems with the electrical system, the truck generally runs without the electrical system engaged making it one very expensive diesel garbage truck.
EMD, the Long Island company that converted the garbage truck, was back in New Rochelle this week to see if they could get the electrical system working again. They spent hours changing batteries, checking all the wiring and more. The truck is now back on battery power and charging again. The blade is still needs to be replaced so the truck still needs to be taken back to Long Island for further work.
Talk of the Sound estimates that the truck will reach break-even in the year 2140, give or take a few decades.
The report says the vehicle was driven occasionally with the hybrid system disabled to compare fuel economy. The testing was done on 25 days during the 9 month period. During those 25 days, the report says the truck was driven 1,103 miles or 36 miles per day. While the hybrid system was engaged the truck averaged 2.328 MPG, while the hybrid system was disengaged the truck averaged 2.121 MPG which is a bit less than a 10% greater fuel efficiency.