Peterbilt To Participate In Doe’s Supertruck II Program

Oct 20, 2016 - 8 years ago

Peterbilt announced it will work with Cummins to develop technologies under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SuperTruck II program.

The technologies will double freight efficiency to achieve Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) requirements set forth for model years 2021, 2024 and 2027. “Peterbilt is proud to support the DOE’s SuperTruck II program in cooperation with Cummins,” said Darrin Siver, Peterbilt General Manager and PACCAR Vice President. “We will work together to build on the success of our original SuperTruck program.”

“Cummins and the entire team is focused on developing technologies that can transform the industry and help our customers be more successful while continuing to be great stewards of the environment. Combining some of the best technical minds available for this project, I am confident that we can reach our goals and deliver results that are a win for our customers, a win for our organizations and a win for the environment,” said Wayne Eckerle, Cummins Vice President of Research and Technology. Peterbilt will work to improve aerodynamics by 15 percent in all wind directions, which will provide customers an up to 7.5 percent improvement in fuel economy. This enhancement will decrease aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance.

“Peterbilt recognizes customers’ needs for reduced fuel costs,” said Scott Newhouse, Peterbilt Chief Engineer. “Our aerodynamic and fuel saving initiatives align with the goals of the SuperTruck II program.”

Peterbilt will work to improve fuel economy and efficiency through technologies including auxiliary systems such as air compressors, power steering pumps and cooling pumps. To reduce rolling resistance, Peterbilt will team with tire manufacturing partners to investigate alternative compounds and tire configurations for optimized surface contact.

The SuperTruck II program is a five-year program between Peterbilt and Cummins. The team hopes to not only meet, but exceed the goal of the doubling the baseline truck’s efficiency.

On the original SuperTruck program, the Peterbilt and Cummins team demonstrated a 66 percent fuel economy improvement and 76 percent freight efficiency improvement over the baseline truck. Advanced aerodynamics, predictive cruise control, chassis light-weighting and battery-based A/C systems for idle reduction led to these improvements. These options are now available on the Model 579 EPIQ, which demonstrates Peterbilt’s goal of developing quick-to-market technologies.