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H ome extension
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Page 18
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from Scania
We've seen the sleeper cab of the future. It's called eXc. Less than two months after Scania revealed its stunning
concept cab at the Hanover Show Commercial Motor has taken it out for an exclusive spin and spent a night in it. We predict a big future for eXc—just as long as European legislators are prepared to give an inch (or 1.3m) on artic lengths. Brian Weatherley reports.
EXCLUSIVE • A week before the Hanover truck show opened in September, CM revealed that Scania would have a special design concept called eXc on its stand Seven days later there it was—an R-Series tractor with an enormous extended Topline sleeper cab, hailed as the "ultimate longhaulage machine by the Swedish truck maker. What makes eXc different from all those other "show concepts is that it's a real truck, real enough to drive, And Scania has real ambitions for it.
What exactly is eXc? Imagine a normal Soania Topline R cab that's been stretched 1.300mm so its bumper-toback-of-cab dimension is identical to that of a bonneted 1-tractor with a sleeper cab. Then put it on a chassis whose length also corresponds to a 6x2 Ttractor. But doesn't that make it over-length? Of course—coupled up to conventional semi-trailer it measures 17.8m front to back—but what a difference for the driver that extra 1.3m makes.
By building eXc Scania is asking the question: "if we increased the current 16.5m artic maximum length, what would it mean for the driver?" The answer is a superb living environment that could help resolve the current driver recruitment problem. The job now is to sell the idea to EC legislators.
Bigger perspective
However, according to Johan Lunden, ergonomics engineer and eXc project manager, that process has already started. At the Hanover Show a number of EC representatives viewed eXc with interest. But would they change overall artic lengths, simply to accommodate bigger sleepers? "That's what we're hoping," insists Lunden. "We built it with that in mind. The bigger perspective is to fire up the debate on legislation in Europe."
For a prototype eXc looks amazingly close to a finished product—so much so that several visitors at Hanover asked to buy one. However, having created the extra space in eXc, Scania hasn't rushed to fill it up with unnecessary gimmicks.
"One of the biggest issues was not to go too wild on storage and lose the space we now have!" admits Lunden. "We've focused on the basic layout—rather then concentrate on a detailed technical solution, if this were to become a production truck then clearly we'd look into it further,"
One notable omission is a wardrobe for hanging clothes. "Some people have
asked for it," he says. "If I was buildir eXc for the States maybe we'd do it. Bi truckers in Europe don't tend to stay the cab much as the Americans—thf don't really unpack their clothes
much. It was more important to have large storage space for bags that carry clothes hanging up."
A number of operators have already expressed an interest in eXc as a bare shell, in which they'd put their own things, reports Lunden. "We could certainly 'modularise' it," he says.
However, according to Lunden the single most important aspect of a sleeper cab is a good bed. "A driver who has had a good night's sleep is a safer driver and when drivers aren't driving they want to sleep—that's very important, That's why we put the bed this way lie lengthwise) and you get it without having to lose the table."
Moreover. Lunden says: The bed should always stay intact—it's difficult to create a comfortable bed in three parts. This way you can always add a better mattress."
So how much did the eXc project cost? 'That's of course confidential!" responds Lunden. But he insists the project has been very cost-effective. "We have our modular cab system to thank for that." So will eXc ever see the cold light of 'volume' production? "I think it has a good chance to become real," asserts Lunden, if legislation changes this might be even bigger than we anticipate. It's probably a small 'series' in any case— but the opportunity exists to have it within existing legislation now—just like 1-cab running with short trailers."
However, CM is already convinced. We've seen the future of sleeper cabs— it's called eXc.