Cummins R&D Working on Turbo Diesel PHEV Targeting 50% Lower Fuel Consumption

Cummins was awarded a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a Class 6 commercial PHEV that can reduce fuel consumption by at least 50 percent over conventional Class 6 vehicles.

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When fully loaded, Class 6 vehicles weigh between 19,000 and 26,000 pounds and typical examples include school buses or single axle work trucks.

With their expertise in internal combustion engines, Cummins researchers will optimize the powertrain by selecting the engine with the best architecture to use as an electric commercial vehicle range extender, using the engine to manage the charge level of the all-electric drive battery storage solution. The range extender will be integrated, using advanced vehicle controls, with the electrified powertrain and other applicable technologies.

The R&D teams aim is to demonstrate improved fuel consumption and state of the art drivability and performance regardless of environmental conditions.

Cummins is partnering with PACCAR, representatives from The Ohio State University, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).

The reduction of fuel consumption will be met or exceeded during a wide-range of drive cycles designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of commercial fleet operators. The fuel reduction goals will be achieved through the use of an electrified vehicle powertrain, optimization of the internal combustion engine operation, and other technologies including intelligent transportation systems and electronic braking.

 

50% increase? That is huge as far as fuel savings go. A class seven gets probably around 9 to 10 mpg at the most.
Around me Diesel runs around $2.50 a gallon and say you're running a local delivery vehicle and are putting on 30K a year.
You're dolling out almost $7900 for diesel fuel per year at 9.5 mpg's.
Get that same vehicle up to 14.25 mpg and the fuel costs drop to $5300 a year.
If they drive that truck for 210K miles they'd save over $18,000 in life time fuel costs.