Patent ID: 7391129

Claim:
A vehicle power system for a heavy-duty hybrid vehicle including an engine compartment and a drive shaft, comprising: a main power unit configured to supply a DC power to the heavy-duty hybrid vehicle and located in the engine compartment; an electric propulsion motor to propel the heavy-duty hybrid vehicle using the drive shaft; a DC bus electrically coupled with the main power unit, the DC bus configured to receive the DC power from the main power unit; a vehicle accessory traditionally powered directly from an internal combustion engine of a conventional heavy-duty vehicle and requiring more than 1 kilowatt of power, the vehicle accessory including at least one of a compressor and a pump; an electric accessory motor including the following: a) the electric accessory motor is separate from the electric propulsion motor, b) the electric accessory motor is electrically coupled with the DC bus and mechanically coupled with the vehicle accessory, c) the electric accessory motor is configured to supply power to the vehicle accessory, d) the electric accessory motor and the vehicle accessory are carried by the heavy-duty vehicle either inside or outside of the engine compartment; and at least one of an ultracapacitor pack and a fly wheel coupled with the DC bus, the at least one of an ultracapacitor pack and a fly wheel configured to store power when the main power unit is on and supply power in place of the main power unit when the main power unit is off or in addition to the main power unit when the main power unit is on.