DTNA SuperTruck Program Honored with Distinguished Achievement Award from DOE
Contact: david.giroux@daimler.com
PORTLAND, Ore. – June 24, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office has given Daimler Truck North America’s (DTNA) SuperTruck program its Distinguished Achievement Award.
According to the DOE, DTNA received this recognition for its “can-do attitude and willingness to take risks, resulting in twice the freight efficiency goal of the SuperTruck project.”
In March 2015, DTNA announced the final results of its five-year research and development program, reporting that its SuperTruck achieved 115 percent freight efficiency improvement over a 2009 baseline truck – surpassing the DOE goal of 50 percent improvement. The SuperTruck also achieved 50.2 percent engine brake thermal efficiency.
The final SuperTruck demonstrator – at 65,000 lbs GVWR and traveling at 65 mph – achieved an average result of 12.2 mpg, which approximately doubles the fuel efficiency of the 2009 baseline vehicle.
“This recognition from the DOE is a nod to the many team members who contributed to the success of the SuperTruck program at DTNA,” said Derek Rotz, principal investigator for SuperTruck, DTNA. “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and of seeing commercially feasible technologies from SuperTruck make their way into our current products.”
Co-sponsored by DOE, the SuperTruck program was a five-year research and development initiative to improve freight efficiency by at least 50 percent, achieve a 50 percent brake thermal efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of Class 8 trucks. DTNA and three other major truck OEMs were awarded multi-million dollar grants by the DOE and each matched the federal funding dollar for dollar.
SuperTruck is supported by DOE under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. DTNA began work on the program in 2010 together with Detroit and other partners, including national labs, universities and suppliers.
For more information about the SuperTruck program, go to www.freightlinersupertruck.com.
For more information about Daimler Truck North America, go to www.daimler-trucknorthamerica.com.
About Daimler Truck North America
Daimler Truck North America LLC, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America. Daimler Truck North America produces and markets commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. Daimler Truck North America is a Daimler company, the world's leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.
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