ENERGYThe Hyper LPG Truck was shown to membersof the British Chamber of Commerce inJapan in Kita Ward on 2 February.

New eco truck designed
to reduce logistics costs
LPG and diesel fuel mix a first in Japanby julian ryall

An energy firm set up by a family with aproud tradition of looking overseas forbest-practice opportunities for Japan
has launched the first domestically developed
light truck to be powered by a combination ofliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel.
The innovative use of the two fuels together
means the vehicle—the Hyper LPG Truck—is more economical and can be driven for
longer distances without requiring refuelling,according to Daruma Energy Co., Ltd.
The business was set up in July 2013 by Yoji
Furuta, whose wife is a direct descendant of
Korekiyo Takahashi—himself something of
an innovator.

30 bccj acumen, may 2015

Born in July 1854, Takahashi was adopted
into a low-ranking samurai family but rose toserve as Japan’s 20th prime minister and wasminister of finance for five terms. He also was
the first agriculture minister, the first ministerof commerce and industry and the seventh
governor of the Bank of Japan.
Takahashi is perhaps most famous for thedrastic financial policies he introduced at theheight of the global Great Depression in the1930s. Although painful, the reforms served to
get Japan’s economy back on track five years
ahead of the United States.
Committed throughout his life to building
better ties with other countries, Takahashi

studied English under Clarissa Hepburn,the wife of American medical missionary
James Hepburn, whose surname was used toname one of Japan’s three main systems fortranscribing Japanese, namely, the Hepburnromanisation system. He also worked at aBritish bank in Yokohama.
After a spell in the US, where he perfected
his language skills, Takahashi set out ona career in government. He found time toboth teach English and translate foreign
regulations that served as the basis for manyof Japan’s laws.
Known affectionately as the Daruma
Minister or Daruma Saisho—from where theENERGY

By having two fuel tanks,
the aggregate fuel load isincreased and the driving
range of the truck isextended.

LPG and diesel are compressed in the combustion chamber to create energy.

firm takes its name—he was assassinated in1936 at his home in Akasaka in an attempted
coup d’état that has gone down in Japanese
history as the 26 February Incident.
As Takahashi did, Daruma Energy wants tomake a difference.
“There are roughly 60,000 logistics
companies nationwide, about 90% of themsmall or medium-sized companies that operateless than 50 trucks”, said River Furuta, project
manager for the LPG-diesel dual truck and
Takahashi’s great-granddaughter.
“These companies spend between 17% and
38% of their yearly budgets on diesel fuel”, shesaid. “While petroleum prices are falling at themoment, they will not stay low”.
The majority of Japan’s logistics firms havebeen in the red for a number of years and had
little hope of getting back into the black—until
fuel prices fell recently. It is this sector that
Daruma Energy particularly wants to assist.
LPG has developed a solid following inJapan, in part due to its low cost, its positiveenvironmental performance, and the fact thatit does not degrade over time. An added bonus,
which became apparent in the aftermath of theGreat East Japan Earthquake and tsunami ofMarch 2011, is that the strict laws on the storageof high-pressure gas at LPG filling stations
meant that they withstood the destruction
wrought on the Tohoku region.
Despite the clear advantages, Nissan MotorCo., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation haveannounced plans to halt output of LPG-powered
taxis within the next three years. This move will
inevitably contract the autogas market.
To prevent the disappearance of LPG
vehicles from Japan’s roads, the Daruma
project—carried out by Daruma Energy inconjunction with Joto Garage K.K.—hasreceived a grant from the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry to cover half of the ¥27.3mn
cost of developing a vehicle that cuts fuel costs
while offering improved performance.
Based on the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter—aline of light-duty commercial vehicles built by
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation andfitted with the latest clean diesel engine—thevehicle has been adapted to incorporate an
LPG tank. The two fuels are compressed in thecombustion chamber to create the energy thatpowers the engine.

With diesel currently costing around ¥107
per litre and LPG around ¥70 per litre, replacing
a portion of the diesel that the vehicle consumes
with LPG cuts costs. By having two fuel tanks,
the aggregate fuel load is increased and thedriving range of the truck is extended.
The developers also quickly learned thatmixing the fuels increased the engine torquedramatically, to a point at which the engine
can be damaged, Furuta said. Engineers havetherefore reduced the torque so that it matches
the durability levels recommended by themanufacturer.
Yet another benefit, she pointed out, is thatshould the truck run out of LPG in its dual-fuelmode, the system can be manually switchedback to the original diesel engine and continue
to operate as a mono-fuel vehicle.
The truck meets all vehicle and emissions
standards set by the Japanese government,
while it is also seen as meeting the needs offirms’ business continuity plans for times ofcrisis. Conventional fuel was in desperately
short supply in Tohoku after the March 2011
disasters, Furuta said, but LPG was still
relatively easy to obtain.

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