Proposed 2021 Fuel Economy Rules For Heavy-Duty Trucks, Buses Released

Daimler Trucks North America SuperTruck

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released proposed standards that would further boost the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses, starting in the 2021 model year and running through 2027.

The new regulations were announced on Friday by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and the EPA.

The White House cited the rules as another element in its strategy to reduce U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions at least 26 percent by 2030, compared to levels in 2005.

Full details of the proposed rules are available on the EPA website.

For heavy-duty vans and pickup trucks, fuel economy would have to rise by 2.5 percent a year starting in 2021.

And for the first time, the EPA is including efficiency standards for trailers as well--excluding some categories, including mobile homes--starting in 2018.

Daimler Trucks North America SuperTruck

Similar NHTSA standards would go into force in 2021, but the agency would offer credits for early participation before then.

The rules will take effect somewhat later than some analysts had expected, to givetruck makers time to design, develop, engineer, and tool up for new fuel-efficiency technologies.

Medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses are only about 5 percent of the total vehicles on U.S. roads, but they cover more miles than private cars and consume vastly more fuel per mile--accounting for 20 pecent of overall carbon emissions from transportation.

A large truck could rise in cost as much as $14,000 to meet the new rules, the EPA said, but lower fuel costs would likely offset that in as little as two years.

Unlike some previous rounds of regulation, the trucking industry appears to support the new rules--including the American Trucking Association.

As usual, the National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers came out with a joint statement that slammed the new regulations.

Natural Gas-powered Kenworth truck (Image: Flickr user TruckPR)

The rules are based on "potentially untested technologies" and consequently pose a "great risk" in a "still fragile economy," the statement said.

Vehicle sales last year were the highest they had been since 2006, however, and as noted, most of the new EPA rules don't take effect for seven model years.

Environmental groups applauded the proposed regulations, with Environment America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and many others issuing statements in support.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, maker of Ram trucks, issued a statement noting that a single set of national regulations were greatly preferable to individual state mandates.

That's undoubtedly a reference to California's ability to set its own emission standards.

Before 2007, the fuel efficiency of medium- and heavy-duty trucks was not regulated at all--unlike that of light-duty passenger vehicles, which had been subject to Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for three decades.

Mack Pinnacle natural-gas powered truck

The first fuel-economy standards for the larger vehicles were finalized in 2011, calling for a reduction of 10 to 20 percent in fuel consumption depending on the vehicle type.

The latest set of proposed rules for 2021 and beyond will now undergo a process of review and public comment before adoption.

GM to invest $1.2B in full-size truck plant

General Motors is investing $1.2 billion in its full-size pickup truck plant in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for upgrades and technology that will improve the plant’s competitiveness in assembling high-quality light- and heavy-duty models.

Construction of the new pre-treat, electro-coat paint operation and sealing facility, expanded body shop, expanded and new material sequencing centers, and upgraded general assembly area is expected to begin in June and take several years to complete. Full-size truck production schedules will be unaffected by the construction.

The investment includes a number of technological and environmental upgrades:

• New pre-treatment facility featuring thin-film paint pretreatment
• E-coat paint customized to each vehicle style, resulting in superior coverage and curability
• GM-patented radiant tube ovens for exceptional paint finish and lower energy use
• New equipment that accommodates the many variations of the truck cab and box being placed on the chassis
• New skillet conveyance systems for instrument panel assembly intended to improve worker ergonomics, leading to better product quality.

Fort Wayne Assembly began building light-duty trucks in 1986. Today, it is a three-shift operation with approximately 3,800 employees who build light- and heavy-duty regular and double cab full-size trucks.

The investments in Fort Wayne are part of the $5.4 billion that GM said on 30 April it would invest in US facilities over the next three years.

BAE Systems Developing Parallel Hybrid Propulsion System for Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks

BAE Systems, producer of the market-leading HybriDrive series hybrid system for transit buses, is developing a parallel hybrid propulsion system designed for medium- and heavy-duty truck applications. The parallel system is the latest version of the company’s HybriDrive system.

The HybriDrive series propulsion system—currently in service on more than 3,000 transit buses in cities around the world and with more than 200 million miles of revenue service—meets the demands of urban transit duty cycles, which require low average speeds and frequent stop-and-go operation. The HybriDrive parallel system is designed to address the needs of vehicles with duty cycles that require higher operating speeds and less frequent stops.

The development of a parallel system is part of our strategy to broaden our HybriDrive product family to meet the growing worldwide need for more efficient transport and energy management. Our HybriDrive parallel system is the perfect hybrid electric solution for vehicles that operate in diverse duty cycles beyond standard urban operational modes.

—Steve Trichka, vice president of power and energy management for BAE Systems

HybriDrive series and parallel technologies both use simplified and proven components and controls to deliver their capabilities. While the series system does not use a transmission, the HybriDrive parallel system is based on a single electric machine integrated between the engine and the transmission. The system can be installed with minimal impact to the vehicle, and enhances propulsion through an optimized blending of internal combustion engine power and electric power.

The system’s energy management and control capabilities ensure all energy flow—such as propulsion and regeneration—occurs in the most efficient fashion, resulting in lower fuel consumption and reduced emissions.

The HybriDrive parallel system, in final stages of development, will see its first road trials next spring and is expected to be deployed in markets around the world in 2012.

BAE Systems’ HybriDrive series system has transported more than a billion passengers in cities across North America and in the United Kingdom including New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Ottawa, Houston, Seattle, London, and Oxford, UK, and powers vehicles by the world’s leading bus manufacturers, including Daimler and New Flyer in the United States and Alexander Dennis and Irisbus Iveco in Europe.

Source: Green Car Congress