Analysis of Class 8 truck technologies for their fuel savings and economics

• The fuel consumption benefits of the various component and powertrain technologies for Class 8 trucks are estimated.
• Hybridization is a good option for the trucks operating over the day drive.
• Over-the-road operation hybridization makes financial sense only when the expected payback period is more than four years.

Non-electrification efficiency-improving technologies and powertrain technologies for reducing the heavy-duty truck fuel consumption are studied. The study indicates that improvements in engine efficiency, aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance will benefit fuel economy significantly over the day drive and over-the-road highway driving cycles; 6–13% in fuel savings can be expected from each technology. Hybridization can achieve fuel saving of 16% and is financially attractive for the day drive cycle. Compared to the baseline Class 8 conventional trucks, an improvement of 20–22% and 28–50% in fuel economy by 2020 can be expected using non-electrification efficiency-improving and a combination of non-electrification and hybrid technologies. Fuel economy improvements of a factor of four to five can be achieved by hybridizing the heavy-duty trucks used on ocean ports.