Daimler Sees 10 MPG by 2020 as OEMs Focus on Fuel Mileage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fuel consumption of heavy-duty trucks should improve by more than 40% to 10 miles per gallon by 2020, the CEO of Daimler Trucks North America said last week, as truck and engine makers made fuel economy a central theme at the Mid-America Trucking Show here.

“Fuel efficiency is getting more and more important. It is the most important item of our industry,” Martin Daum, DTNA’s top executive said.

“Only about 20% of the energy from combustion goes into pushing the vehicle forward. The other 80% is wasted. Ten miles per gallon is possible, but not now,” Daum said in a speech to the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association on March 26.

Daum said the 10-mpg prediction was a “visionary statement” and “those can be wrong,” but he declared it was a reasonable 10-year goal, considering the pace of scientific and engineering progress.

Improved fuel economy was a common thread through a host of product introductions and improvements unveiled during MATS, the largest trucking show in North America.

Most trucks now average 5 miles per gallon to 6.5 mpg. While heavy-haul and vocational trucks often get less than 5 mpg, heavy-duty trucks hauling general commodities over the road usually get more than 5 mpg if well maintained. Fleet managers talking to Transport Topics for its weekly fuel story often report as high at 6.5 mpg.

Jim Kelly, who retired March 1 as president of the Cummins Inc. engine business, said Daum’s prediction meshes with Cummins’ forecast of 8.5 mpg within five years.

Cummins’ interest in fuel economy was highlighted by its use of federal emissions credits to meet 2010 emissions standards and achieve maximum fuel efficiency on some of its 2010 engines (3-29, p. 5).

By using the credits, mostly gained from midrange engine production, Cummins said it can boost fuel economy more than it could by meeting the standard at the exhaust pipe.

Andreas Renschler, head of Daimler AG’s global truck business, said many of the division’s new products in North America over the next 24 months will focus on fuel mileage, not only because customers want improvement but also because governments will insist on them as part of carbon dioxide regulations.

“CO2 regulations are coming,” Renschler said, adding they will be met mainly through improving miles per gallon. He also recommended paying attention to measurements such as ton-miles per gallon or CO2 per ton-mile.

Fuel mileage also factored significantly in presentations by Navistar Inc., Mack Trucks and Paccar Inc.’s Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors.

Navistar executives Jack Allen, James Hebe and Dee Kapur all referenced fuel economy, with Hebe saying that the company’s 13-liter engines can do much of the work that 15-liter models used to do, only more efficiently.

“It is the simplest way to meet the 2010 emissions requirements and the most eco-friendly,” Hebe said.

Navistar is the only OEM not using selective catalytic reduction technology in its 2010 engines, relying instead upon a third generation of exhaust gas recirculation. Company engineers have said looking at engine tests in isolation is not as important as considering the truck as a whole, which incorporates aerodynamics, vehicle weight and driver skill.

Mack spoke of a combination of incremental improvements that are collectively significant. First is the company’s ClearTech SCR system.

“We met the requirements for 2010 and saved on miles per gallon,” said David McKenna, director of powertrain sales and marketing. McKenna said it is the first time the company has been able build cleaner-burning engines that simultaneously get better mileage.

Mack’s engines for its Pinnacle highway tractors feature improved torque management at low highway speeds with a system called EconoBoost, McKenna said. The company also said its new mDrive transmission is designed to improve economy through the more efficient shifting of gears.

The Paccar Inc. companies spoke of their new 12.9-liter engine for 2010, which is mainly built by the corporation’s DAF Trucks subsidiary in the Netherlands, with final assembly in Columbus, Miss. Full U.S. production is expected by the end of this year, said Kenworth General Manager Bill Kozek.

A Peterbilt executive said the use of compacted graphite iron shaves 20% off the engine’s weight.

In unveiling the company’s new T700 tractor, Kenworth Chief Engineer Preston Feight said the aerodynamic design is at least 3% better than all rival vehicles.

Peterbilt said its new Model 587 also has improved aerodynamics. The company further addressed fuel economy by talking of hybrids and alternative fuels, particularly in its medium-duty and vocational trucks, such as the Model 320 for refuse work with a hydraulic-hybrid power train by Eaton Corp.