Introducing a Big Rig That’s Less of a Stinker

Most 80,000-pound big rigs thunder across the nation’s highways, belching exhaust and sucking down gallons of diesel.

Not Jesse Keller’s rig.

Keller has the wheel of what is billed as the country’s only heavy-duty tractor-trailer powered with natural gas and electricity.

The $500,000 truck emits virtually no pollutants and runs on half the energy needed by diesel-powered 18-wheelers.

Eerily, the truck moves in near silence, giving off only a slight, high-pitched hum. At freeway speeds, passengers can speak in normal tones.

Motorists at stoplights are often surprised--not pleasantly--when the huge vehicle suddenly looms in their rearview mirrors.

“I get 10 points when I do that,” joked Keller.

The state Air Resources Board in Sacramento presented the truck Thursday in its headquarters parking lot as part of its program to develop experimental low-polluting vehicle technology.

The board will set up workshops to determine whether the big-rig hybrid technology is feasible on a wide scale.