Freightliner says its Business Class M2 106 hybrid drop-frame beverage truck is now available for order. The company has said it will build 1500 hybrid trucks over the next three years, in various configurations for utility and P&D applications as well as beverage hauling. It first showed an M2 hybrid in late 2006. The class 6 truck, the first of its kind to be offered in hybrid form, features the well known Eaton medium-duty diesel/electric powertrain. A Cummins ISB diesel engine and an Eaton Fuller Autoshift transmission sandwich an electric motor/generator, as in other such hybrids. With batteries to store energy recovered from braking action, the truck operates with electric or diesel power either separately or together.

It’s claimed that the M2 106 can deliver fuel-consumption savings up to 30% and as much as an 87% reduction in idling time, which allows for quiet loading and unloading in urban settings.

Freightliner engineers maximized load space on thFre 12-bay beverage body by mounting most of the hybrid components underneath and behind the cab. The drop-frame configuration means easier access to cargo and simplified loading and unloading.