California and Truck & Engine Manufacturers have reached a deal on low NOx and electrification targets in the state. This paves the way for more regulatory certainty but the challenges ahead are not diminished.
Opposed piston engines are being developed as a tool to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions from heavy-duty trucks. Here’s a deeper look into this technology and recent test results.
Tire manufacturers are developing the next generation tires for light- and heavy-duty vehicles to address the new performance and sustainability needs of electrified fleets.
Europe has proposed an ambitious revision to its heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emission standards. Here’s a summary of some of the revised and new elements
An updated summary of available hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks and buses, their announced range and hydrogen capacity.
A summary of CARB’s latest Advanced Clean Fleets proposal for heavy-duty truck electrification as discussed in the February 2023 Workshop.
This is part 1 of 2 technology updates on pathways to meet the low NOx standards for heavy-duty vehicles set by California and being considered by the EPA for nationwide implementation starting model year 2027.
Here’s a summary of EPA’s proposed changes to tailpipe NOx and CO2 emission standards for HD trucks in the US beyond 2027.
As we enter into the final lap of the SuperTruck 2 program, all teams are confident of meeting the 55% BTE and doubling-of-freight-efficiency targets. Here are the technical solutions being pursued.
Let’s put things in perspective first. Brake thermal efficiency was ~ 35% in 1960. In 2020, Weichai announced a 50% BTE commercial engine (more details on Dieselnet). And the US Department of Energy’s SuperTruck 2 program is targeting 55% BTE next year. At least two participants announced this year that they are close to 53%. Navistar, Book chapter in “Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Technologies for Improved Environmental Performance”, 2014 doi:10.1533/9780857097422.2.225 Here are some enabling technologies that the participants are pursuing to achieve 55% BTE and doubling of freight efficiency. Improvements include those at the engine, transmission and vehicle level. Also included are model based control of the drivetrain and emissions systems. The table below shows some of the options being evaluated by each of the participants at the engine level. Common elements include light thermal barrier coated pistons, high compression ratios, Miller cycle, high efficiency turbochargers, waste heat recovery and close-coupled SCR. The program enters its final year and we will see whether the participants can demonstrate achieving the targets at the DOE Annual Merit Review in 2021. See you there.
