Mack Demos Catenary Vehicle Prototype in Southern California

The prototype, Mack Pinnacle, recently participated in a one-mile, zero-emission, eHighway demo in Carson, California in partnership with Siemens. The South Coast Air Quality Management District sponsored this demonstration of the Pinnacle’s fully integrated, plug-in, hybrid electric driveline. This served as a stepping stone towards the District’s ultimate goal of reducing air pollution in high-freight locations, like the nearby southern ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are two of the largest ports in the United States.

Siemens installed the eHighway infrastructure, which covers one mile of select lanes of a highway with a catenary system similar to those used to power trolleys or streetcars.

The Mack prototype used in the November demonstrations is a Mack Pinnacle™ DayCab model equipped with a proprietary plug-in hybrid electric driveline, which saves fuel and reduces emissions when running in hybrid or in electric mode. The Mack truck can connect to the overhead contact lines and transfer energy to the truck’s electric driveline thanks to a current collector supplied by Siemens, allowing it to operate with zero tailpipe emissions on the eHighway corridor.

Mack has investigated several other solutions for reducing greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions including a plug-in hybrid electric powertrain and the use of alternative fuels such as dimethyl ether (DME).