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Tomorrow's world, today
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Who is at the forefront of truck development technology? The Europeans? The North Americans? The Japanese? CM analyses who is leading the R&D race...
Words: Oliver Dixon Wander around any truck show and, despite all the hyperbole, it's not hard to see that vehicle manufacturers are fundamentally about creating technology in order to satisfy legislation. So where does the technology come from? The answer: from clever people who, when presented with a problem, sit down and attempt to solve it.
Broaden this out geographically, and you come up with the obvious question about who's leading the technology race... Is it Europe, or do Japan and the US have anything to say on the subject?
For all those sitting on the right-hand side of the 'Big Pond', it's reasonable to assume Europe's in the driving scat. Yet there's a strong argument that the EU is actually lagging slightly behind both the Americans and the Japanese in terms of emissions legislation — Euro-6 is effectively EPA 10 and JP09 is some way ahead of Euro-5.
European ownership Ironically, what's driving many research and development (R&D) decisions is a simple issue of ownership. With the majority of truck manufacturers competing within the three major regional markets now European-owned, it's fair to assume that their world R&D strategies are being driven at least in part by a European mindset. But given that R&D is also a function of legislation. European truck operators will continue to be the recipients of the R&D efforts from the other two sides of the European/North American/Japanese triangle.
European diesel emissions legislation started to become a real challenge with the advent of Euro-3. While Euro-1 and Euro-2 allowed a mechanical approach to compliance. Euro-3 demanded that electronics become involved. And here. the Americans enjoyed a clear headstart over their European counterparts, as the demands placed upon US truck designers during the early 1990s mandated an early adoption of electronic engine management systems.
So, step forward Detroit Diesel with its groundbreaking all-electronic 60 Series four-stroke family (which ERE briefly flirted with in the EC before giving it a miss).
Not surprisingly, other US designs soon arrived in Europe, notably Mack's V-Mac system, which found its way into Renault's engine design program, while Cummins CELECT Ll 0 — as supplied to first ERE then ultimately Foden and Seddon Atkinson — was claimed by the US manufacturer to be the first electronic engine in the UK when it was launched during April 1994, Today, electronic engines are the norm, and the next big R&D challenge is arguably the development of a hybrid driveline suitable for the mass market. Once again, Europe has to tip its hat to North America, because it's within the US that hybrids seem to be causing the most excitement.
Hybrid heroes
in terms of market leadership here, Eaton retains the big seat at the table, with both Paccar's US brands — Peterbilt and Kenworth — and Navistar leaning heavily upon the US-based Tier 1 supplier for the clever hybrid bits. But Eaton has also crossed the Atlantic, and is now working with DAE on its hybridised LF product. Having been fairly conspicuous in its apparent denial of any big markets east of Cape Cod over the past few years, Eaton's renewed focus on the European drivetrain market is doubly significant.
Hybrids are only one of the R&D challenges, for despite an awful lot of hot air (rather reminiscent of the furious optimism recently surrounding biofuels), the jury is still out as to whether or not non-traditional drivelines will actually count for much in the short-term. Even if hybrids do account for 20% of all trucks sold at some point in the future, that still leaves 80% of the vehicle pare with a conventional diesel engine. On a European level, that's a big number, on a global scale it's even more significant.
When electronically-managed engines began to cross the Atlantic 15 years ago, the world was a different place. Then, there were the three aforementioned distinct international markets with different technologies employed in each.That's no longer the case today; the three main sets of emissions legislation are growing ever closer, and while debates continue to rage over the onset of a single, harmonised emissions protocol, with more importantly a single testing procedure for the same, there's no doubt that this is where the future lies.
And so to November 2008, and a cold night in Stuttgart. CM is wandering around Daimler's testing facilities when the intensity of the resident test engineers veers into the red zone. Our eye is caught by a Detroit Diesel DD15 engine bolted to one of the test benches. At first, we wonder why it should have an OM plate attached to it — suggesting a Mercedes-Benz engine. That it is covered in Detroit Diesel logos suggests otherwise, but, this aside, what really stands out is the fact that is attached to Merc's latest Powershift 2 auto transmission. And as an aside. it's worth noting that the penetration of auto boxes on new European heavy trucks is way ahead of the US — score onc for Europe.
Global collaboration
Yet, given that the DD15 is a part of the US-developed HDEP family, and that 11DEP will beget the next generation of Mercedes-Benz engines (due probably in 2010) a near 'global' driveline.
HDEP enters the Japanese market next year in Fuso guise, and all three markets will share an engine platform that boasts north of 90% component commonality. And so an engine developed in Michigan, and a transmission developed in Germany — along with a drive axle also developed in Europe — have been combined to produce something of a Holy Grail: a common driveline appropriate for all major markets. A fairly big deal you might think.
And also one that might be observed to have brought us hack full circle. Thirty years ago, engine suppliers designed and built diesels for individual countries Truck manufacturers were predominately domestically-focused, and so the components used were fairly parochial. No however, we're seeing the start of engines developed for a global market, matched to transmissions obviously being aimed in the same direction. Or to put it another way, we've probably just witnessed tomorrow's world drivetrain today... •