Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Hybrid

And that’s both lighter on the wallet and on the planet. Mitsubishi Fuso previewed the second version of the diesel/electric model to be introduced locally in Melbourne earlier this month.

Production of Australian models will start in September and the first batch of trucks expected to touch down around December.

While Mitsubishi Fuso is yet to lock in pricing for the green machine, Mitsubishi Fuso technical manager Kevin Johnston says the company has worked to drive down the price of production to enable a lower purchase price. 

He says the first hybrid truck demonstrated significant fuel savings and low emissions, but concedes it was expensive.

"People bought the old model as a feel good, because it was green and so on, but did it make money? No," he says.

It will be different this time around, Johnston says. "We are not trying to sell this as a feel good product, but as something that makes good business sense."

While some high profile companies are keen to run low emission vehicles in their fleets, to help the environment as well as presenting a green image to the public, Fuso understands that hybrids will only start selling in volume when it makes sense from a purely financial perspective.

"With the new vehicle we are a lot closer to the point where people will buy it because it will make business sense even if they don't care about the environment," Johnston says.

The new Eco Canter runs a powerful electric motor, which can propel the truck by itself at low speeds and also assist the 3.0-litre diesel engine during acceleration. 

It still has a lithium ion battery pack, but it is now simpler and cheaper to make and runs the same dual clutch automated manual transmission as the regular Canter.