Fuel Efficiency

Trucks keep our economy running. In the US, the majority of our freight is moved by truck, and every one of us benefit from the movement of goods. But to move these goods requires a significant amount of fuel. This not only means costs to our customers, but also an impact on the environment. So we understand it is critical to continuously improve the fuel efficiency (FE) of all our vehicles, for both our direct customers and society as a whole. We are constantly working to improve our FE, and we have been the market leader in FE for years. The new Freightliner Cascadia® boasts up to an 8 percent* FE improvement over our previous model, and we are constantly researching ways to continuously improve our benchmark. Do you want to learn more about the impact of fuel? Check out this blog written by our director of advanced engineering.

*The new Cascadia (equipped with AeroX and Integrated Detroit™ Powertrain (IDP) including a GHG17 DD15® engine, DT12™ with Intelligent Powertrain Management (IPM4) and 2.16 direct drive axle ratio) boasts up to an 8 percent fuel economy increase over a similarly spec’d 2016 Cascadia Evolution.

Emissions

Emissions regulations have dramatically changed over the years, and DTNA works diligently to meet all regulatory standards and, where possible, even meets standards early. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked to reduce commercial vehicle emissions over time, and the allowable particulate matter and nitrogen oxides emissions have been reduced by 98 percent from 1988 to 2010. To see more details on how we have reduced our emissions in recent years, check out this article from our proprietary engine manufacturer Detroit.

The EPA allowable particulate matter and nitrogen oxides emissions have been reduced by 98 percent from 1988 to 2010.

e-Mobility

We premiered two fully electrified commercial vehicles, a Freightliner eCascadia™ heavy-duty truck and a Freightliner eM2 106 medium-duty truck in June 2018 during the Daimler Truck Capital Market and Technology Day in Portland, Oregon. Both electrified Freightliner models are designed to fit specific applications, carefully identified through an extensive co-creation process with customers. The goal is to build and deliver commercial electric vehicles that support the business and sustainability goals of our customers.

SuperTruck

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy challenged truck manufacturers to truly push the envelope in fuel efficiency, and we gladly accepted the challenge! It was no small feat to create a truck that was 50 percent more freight efficient, while also achieving an engine target of 50 percent braking thermal efficiency.  We not only accepted the challenge, we far surpassed our goals. We achieved 115 percent freight efficiency improvement and 12.2 MPG. But we aren’t done yet; a follow-on project, SuperTruck 2, launched in January 2017. In contrast to the SuperTruck 1 program where the goal was to push the boundaries of what was possible, SuperTruck 2 is focused on finding cost-effective, fuel-efficient solutions that give our customers a real return on investment.

More Alternative Fuel Vehicles

As we seek to continue to improve fuel economy for our customers and lower emissions for the good of the planet, we offer our customers a variety of alternative fuel vehicles in addition to those with modern diesel engines. We currently have a range of natural gas offerings and some exciting developments with electric vehicles.

Daimler AG Electric Vehicles

There are many opportunities beyond what we currently offer, and a lot of research to find what is best for our customers and the environment. As a part of the Daimler AG family, we know that electric vehicles will play a big part of our future, and not just in trucks. Want to learn more about what Daimler AG is doing in the world of E-mobility? Take a look at Daimler’s AG’s website.

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