Daimler Launches Global Initiative to Reduce Fuel Consumption and Emissions in Commercial Vehicles; Increasing Focus on Hybrids, Use of HVO Fuels in Shorter-Term

12 November 2007

Daimler is launching a global initiative to promote measures for drastically reducing the emissions and fuel consumption of commercial vehicles. To mark the launch of the Shaping Future Transportation initiative, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses presented 16 trucks and buses featuring alternative drive systems and fuels.

The vehicles from Freightliner, Mitsubishi Fuso, Mercedes-Benz, Orion and Thomas Built Buses were exhibited at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, and included models making their world debut as well as vehicles that are already being used by customers. Hybrid technology plays a key role in these vehicles, as it can reduce diesel consumption by up to 30 percent, depending on the application.

Daimler leads the global market for hybrid commercial vehicles, having delivered some 1,500 Orion hybrid buses, more than 100 Freightliner trucks, and 200 buses and trucks from Fuso. Added to this are 1,500 Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses that run on natural gas.

Commercial vehicles are the force that’s driving economic growth and globalization. As the world market leader in this sector, we will therefore offer our customers vehicles that are even more economical and environmentally friendly in the future. The initiative encompasses all of the globally networked research and development activities in the area of alternative drives and fuels for all of the brands at Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses. The Shaping Future Transportation initiative also demonstrates that the environmentally friendly commercial vehicles from Daimler are no longer prototypes, but real vehicles that are being used by customers.

—Andreas Renschler, Daimler Board of Management member and Head of Daimler Trucks

Hybrids. Daimler has decided to use parallel hybrids for its trucks; Daimler’s hybrid buses are equipped with a series hybrid drive. In addition, all of the auxiliary systems of the Mitsubishi Fuso and Mercedes-Benz hybrid buses are electrically powered, which makes completely electrical and emission-free driving possible for short stretches. The technological transition to the zero-emission vehicle is being ushered in by the new Mercedes-Benz Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid, which employs an innovative drive concept featuring wheel-hub motors. (Earlier post.) In principle, future generations of the vehicle will only need to replace the diesel-engine generator with fuel cells, as the electric drive components have already been tried and tested.

Daimler plans to employ alternative drive systems in additional vehicle models and regions, focusing primarily on hybrids. In North America, Freightliner will manufacture 1,500 M2 hybrid trucks over the next three years and also produce a hybrid version of a Thomas Built school bus. In the meantime, the second-generation Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star Eco Hybrid will be launched on the market in Japan. In Europe, the first Mercedes-Benz Atego BlueTec Hybrids will be delivered to customers in Germany, France, and the Czech Republic next year. At the same time, customers in the UK will be conducting a pilot project with ten Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Eco Hybrids.

For public transportation needs, Daimler unveiled a three-axle articulated Mercedes-Benz bus with the designation Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid, which will go into series production in 2009.

Alternative fuels. Daimler is also investigating the possibility of using alternative fuels in order to preserve fossil sources of energy. According to the commercial vehicle experts at Daimler, the most promising fuels from renewable resources are hydrogenated vegetable oils (HVOs) such as Neste Oil’s NExBTL, Petrobras’s H-Bio or ConocoPhillips’ renewable diesel.

Later, they will be joined by BTL (biomass to liquid) fuels. In cooperation with the oil company OMV (earlier post) and the vehicle fleets of two of its customers (DHL and SSB-Stuttgart), Daimler has now commenced fleet testing of HVO fuel in Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses.

Biodiesel (FAME) has been commonly used in Mercedes-Benz trucks for the past ten years. And Mercedes-Benz has been producing and delivering buses and municipal vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) for almost just as long.

BlueTec. Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses equipped with BlueTec diesel emissions reduction technology combine environmental improvements with economic benefits for the vehicle operator. That’s because BlueTec technology has led to further substantial reductions in fuel consumption. In the case of long-haul trucks, for example, the annual reduction amounts to around 2,000 liters of fuel or more than five tons of CO₂ emissions.

Fuel cells. Mercedes-Benz has tested 30 Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell buses in a large-scale project involving more than two million kilometers in over 125,000 hours of operation. Daimler notes that the fuel cells’ service life needs to be substantially lengthened and their cost drastically reduced before they can be used in series-produced commercial vehicles.