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New GE Hybrid Locomotive?
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May 9, 2005 <br />Hybrid road locomotive in the works <br /> <br />Hybrid locomotives that use storage batteries to power traction motors have been making inroads into North American freight railroad operations for light-duty switching and terminal operations. Units like the RailPower Technologies 2,000- and 1,500-hp Green Goats offer significant fuel savings and emissions reductions. <br /> <br />GE Transportation Rail says it's taking the concept much further with development of a hybrid road locomotive that's part of the company's “Ecoimagination” program. Unlike the Green Goat switcher, which uses a small diesel engine to continuously charge a bank of storage batteries that function as the sole power source for the traction motors, GE's concept is a full-bore, 4,400-hp road diesel-electric. The locomotive's control system takes electricity produced by the traction motors during dynamic braking, and-instead of converting it into heat and releasing it through a roof-mounted resistor grid-channels it into a bank of lead-free rechargeable batteries. <br /> <br />The resulting stored energy can be used by the crew “on demand” for traction power. It is claimed by GE to provide up to a 2,000-hp boost, reducing fuel consumption by as much as 15% and emissions by as much as 50% (compared to GE's current Evolution locomotives), allowing the unit to operate more efficiently in higher altitudes and on steep grades. <br />
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