Scania cuts cost and emissions, using GPS 27 January 2012

Scania has developed a cruise control system for trucks that uses GPS to determine the vehicle's position and predict topography of the road ahead.

It's similar in concept to systems under development at other truck manufacturers, including MAN, with the cruising speed being adjusted before entering an ascent or descent, so helping the driver to minimise fuel usage.

Scania reckons its new system, dubbed Scania Active Prediction, can deliver a fuel saving of up to 3% when driving on undulating stretches of road.

The OEM describes its new system as intuitive and says that it adapts driving style to the topography in much the same way as a highly skilled truck driver. The system also helps experienced drivers to save fuel on new routes, in the dark or under adverse weather conditions.

Scania calculates that, based on a 40-tonne truck combination running 180,000km/year, a fuel saving of 3% would reduce fuel consumption by about 1,700 litres. That is equivalent to an annual reduction in fuel costs of almost eur 2,200 at today's rates, and also results in a reduction of carbon emissions of more than 4 tonnes.

Scania says it will start to deliver trucks with the Active Prediction system early this year. Topographical map data is already available for around 95% of the road network in central and western Europe.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Scania (Great Britain) Ltd

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