We been hearing for several weeks now that Mahindra & Mahindra would probably be displaying their new diesel hybrid powertrain at the SAE World Congress next week and now we have official confirmation. Mahindra won't actually have a booth at the conference but will be on hand at the FEV booth. FEV is an engineering company that helps automakers develop their powertrains. FEV and Mahindra today announced that the two companies are working together to accelerate the development of a hybrid system for the Appalachian pickup and Scorpio SUV. The two trucks will hit the U.S. market in 2009 with a conventional 2.2L turbodiesel power-plant. The press release from FEV indicates the diesel hybrid will launch in Asia first. Global Vehicles USA, the American distributor for Mahindra has previously told ABG that the hybrid will be coming to the U.S. in 2010.

The hybrid system will be a full parallel hybrid utilizing a 30kW electric motor and 2.3kWh nickel metal hydride battery. FEV's release indicates that all the functionality expected of a hybrid will be on hand, including electric drive, electric boost, auto start-stop and regenerative braking. Mahindra CTO Dr. Arun Jaura will also be on hand and ABG will be sitting down to chat with him during the show to learn more.

[Source: FEV]

There are plenty of dynamometers in the world which are capable of helping tuners get the most from their engines. There aren't very many that allow the same type of tuning for hybrids, though. Hybrid drivetrains can be very complex pieces, featuring both the internal combustion engine of a normal passenger car and the motor, controller and batteries of an electric vehicle. To get the most out of each independent system, testing is becoming increasingly important.

As any tuner knows, there's a fine line between getting everything available from the drivetrain and artificially shortening its life because its being pushed too hard, and this is especially true when it comes to batteries. To help carmakers meet these growing demands, FEV, Inc. is planning to open eight new sites equipped to allow for hybrid drivetrain development. Each site allows for the monitoring of both the engine and the electrical systems. With the increasing numbers of hybrids being sold, expect more locations like these to pop up in the near future.

[Source: FEV, Inc]

At the SAE World Congress, FEV is displaying a number of vehicles that they have contributed to recently including a diesel powered version of the new Chrysler Sebring and the Lincoln MKR concept. Perhaps the most interesting vehicle is a large brown UPS delivery van. This is no ordinary UPS truck though. This one has a series hybrid drivetrain, but even that is different. Unlike the Chevy Volt or the Ford Airstream/HySeries Edge, this van has no batteries for energy storage or electric motors. Instead this one has a hydraulic hybrid system.

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