Eaton, Cummins Expand SmartAdvantage Powertrain Options

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Transport Topics / November 5, 2015

Eaton and Cummins are increasing SmartAdvantage powertrain options to provide fleets more choices to meet their individual applications and operations.

At a press briefing and ride-and-drive event here Nov. 4 at Eaton’s proving grounds, the company demonstrated two recently announced features to the UltraShift Plus and Fuller Advantage automated manual transmissions — “urge to move” and “blended pedal.”

The companies also previewed Cummins’ new 2017 ISX15 diesel engine and unveiled a new SmartAdvantage direct drive ratio and new engine ratings for the small-step overdrive ratios.

“The Eaton and Cummins SmartAdvantage powertrain continue to demonstrate our unparalleled collaboration,” said Ryan Trzybinski, Eaton’s product strategy manager for commercial powertrain. “We’re building on that success now with these new additions to our lineup of products that give our customers improved fuel economy, performance and driver satisfaction.”

Urge to Move allows the truck to automatically start moving when the transmission is in gear and the driver releases the service brakes. After the vehicle has launched, it will creep at a constant speed at engine idle without hitting the accelerator.

Blended Pedal allows the driver to directly control clutch engagement at engine idle through accelerator positioning and enables movement at varying speeds.

The features were added to enhance low-speed maneuverability to aid with backing into a loading dock or maneuvering in a construction job site.

“Blended Pedal delivers a level of fine control that, until now, has been exclusive to manual transmissions, said Evan Vijithakumara, product strategy manager for Eaton.

The companies also said a new SmartAdvantage direct drive ratio is available in 400 and 450 horsepower ratings with 1,550 and 1,750 pound-feet of torque, providing optimal performance at lower rpm when combined with a 2.26 or 2.28 axle ratio. This package is ideal for linehaul or regional haul applications that operate in flat and hilly road terrains at cruise speeds in the 50 to 62 mph range.

The SmartAdvantage powertrain with small-step technology now is available with new 400 and 420 hp ratings, beyond the original 450-hp rating. Small-step technology offers benefits of a direct drive and an overdrive transmission configuration and is ideal where cruising speeds exceed 62 mph, company officials said.

Included as part of the ride-and-drive were International trucks equipped with the 2017 ISX15, first displayed in March at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Though still in testing phase, Cummins officials said they have been delighted with the fuel-economy performance thus far and expect it to go into limited production next September.

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Eaton showcases low-speed tech, offers advanced service tool to more facilities

Fleet Owner / Novermber 5, 2015

Eaton showed off new low-speed technologies and announced broader availability for its advanced-function service and diagnostics tool yesterday at its proving grounds facility in Marshall, Michigan.

The low-speed maneuverability features — which allow for more precise, controlled incremental movements of heavy trucks — are optional on the power management company's UltraShift PLUS and Fuller Advantage automated manual transmissions. They're available at no additional charge and are "easily configurable" with Eaton's ServiceRanger 4 PC-based diagnostic and service tool, according to the company, and will be accessible in the Standard and Professional ServiceRanger packages by the end of the year.

The new low-speed features are called Urge to Move and Blended Pedal. "This year, we really made push to enhance our low-speed performance," said Ryan Vigithakumara, product strategy manager for Eaton's heavy duty/vocational lineup. He added that the two features are "fundamentally different than what we've offered in the past targeted at low-speed maneuverability."

Urge to Move

This Eaton feature essentially can make a heavy truck with one of the applicable automated transmissions creep forward like a passenger car with automatic transmission would when the driver takes his or her foot off the brake pedal. It can make for better ease of use for the advanced driver, according to the company, but can be a particular help for less-experienced drivers and those "really anchored in that passenger car-style feel" — potentially a boon for fleets struggling with driver turnover and a limited pool of driver applicants.

"In Urge to Move, when you release the brake pedal, the transmission will — as quickly as it can, safely — ramp the clutch to a lock position. So it's automatically entering what we would call 'creep mode' in the past," said Vigithakumara.

"But there's a technical advantage," he added. "Because we are only starting to ramp that clutch when you release the service brake, there's no fighting the truck when you're on the brake pedal. When you're on that brake pedal, you can be assured that you're holding the truck and you're not having any untoward motion."

Blended Pedal

Vigithakumara contended that Blended Pedal allows a driver to manipulate the clutch in the automated manuals by positioning the accelerator. It may be a welcome addition especially for "that two-pedal driver who's moved to automation, but misses that clutch pedal and wants that manual-style control," he said.

"The way it works is while you're going through the first portion of the pedal, we're able to hold the engine at idle and allow you to manipulate clutch slip. That allows you to move at speeds well below full lockup and gives you the ability to position [the truck] a half-inch, one inch, two inches at a time in forward and reverse, when enabled," he told reporters.

With Blended Pedal enabled, drivers can accelerate out of that super-slow maneuverability mode because Eaton added a "dead pedal" band: the driver simply throttles the engine speed above idle to return to a normal drive mode.

The feature comes in handy, according to Vigithakumara, in situations such as trying to precisely control the discharge rate out of a mixer chute without increasing the rotation of the truck's drum. "We can do that with clutch slip. It's something that manual drivers have always enjoyed, but you lose when you start moving to automation; that's what we've been able to change with the introduction of this feature," he said.

ServiceRanger 4 expansion

The Blended Pedal and Urge to Move features can be "unlocked," so to speak, using Eaton's proprietary service and maintenance tool, ServiceRanger 4. The company is deploying advanced functionality of the tool to fleets and aftermarket repair facilities that have the ServiceRanger 4 Standard and Professional packages, whereas previously this capability was available only to OEM dealerships and fleets.

"Within the ServiceRanger packages, we have a transmission shift mode configuration that allows you to set any one of these features [blended Pedal and Urge to Move] in the drive modes you're comfortable selecting. You can choose to turn on a blended and manual or urging manual, for example," said Vigithakumara.

The additional capability is available at no charge for ServiceRanger 4 users, but customers that have only the tool's Basic package or don't use it will need to go to a dealership location, which may charge a fee to update trucks' transmission configurations.

"It really allows fleets to tailor their trucks individually, if they'd like to," pointed out Tony Truelove, global marketing communications manager at Eaton.

Features of ServiceRanger 4 include the abilities to:

● View active and inactive fault codes;

● Create and review service activity reports;

● Run specialized tests for difficult-to-determine issues;

● View "real-time" vehicle data parameter values;

● Update vehicle product software;

● View service info for Eaton products; and

● Check for automatic updates on products and service information.

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Taking Cummins' 2017 ISX15 diesel for a drive

Fleet Owner / November 6, 2015

Fleets and trucking companies have more options for integrated Cummins-Eaton ISX15 SmartAdvantage Powertrains, including a new direct drive ratio. To highlight that, the companies let reporters drive some tractor-trailers sporting different SmartAdvantage configurations Wednesday, Nov. 4 — two of them, for the first time, with Cummins' 2017 ISX15 diesel being readied for the market to meet new emissions standards.

Some of the trucks came from Cummins' Redefining Tour fleet showcasing the capabilities of the current and upcoming ISX15 engines. The tour trucks together logged nearly 77,000 miles in the United States and Canada.

Mario Sanchez-Lara, director of on-highway communications and technical sales at Cummins, said the tour made believers of the drivers involved — including one who he said found the new trucks' fuel economy, ease of operation and comfort so convincing it opened up the possibility of returning to a former career as an owner-operator.

While the companies wouldn't yet talk specifics about fuel economy of the 2017 engine, Mike Taylor, Cummins' general manager of global powertrains, said Cummins expects the new ISX15 will provide "best-in-class uptime with best-in-class fuel economy." Also, "with maintenance — and I can't say a whole lot more about this — it's going to be game-changing," he said.

SmartAdvantage portfolio expanded

New SmartAdvantage Powertrain options include direct drive transmissions that optimize performance and fuel economy for regional and less-than-truckload carriers whose trucks cruise at speeds below 62 mph, according to Cummins and Eaton. SmartAdvantage small-step overdrive powertrains, which are aimed at line-haul applications with cruising speeds above 62 mph, are now available with additional horsepower ratings.

When the SmartAdvantage Powertrains were released for 2014, the companies claimed they provided fuel economy gains of 3-5%, noted Ryan Trzybinski, Eaton's global product strategy manager for line haul commercial powertrains. "We keep saying how we're not done — this is a collaboration," he said.

"Since then, we've added SmartCoast, which is a neutral-coasting feature, and we're up another 2% in fuel economy. We have done testing, and we're up to 7% [fuel economy advantage] over competitive integrated powertrains," Trzybinski contended.

Cummins and Eaton have continued to refine the SmartAdvantage integrated powertrains by sharing more data between the engine and transmission, he explained, adding, "That's part of what enables us to increase fuel economy and give the performance we can; we're optimizing our shifting for each environment."

The direct drive transmission options include 2.26 and 2.28 axle ratios with ISX15 engines rated at 400 and 450 HP and use engine down-speeding to maximize fuel efficiency. The original small-step overdrive powertrain also employs down-speeding technology and has a 2.64 axle ratio and ISX15 with a 450 HP rating; the small-step tranny configuration is now available with ISX15s with 400 and 420 HP ratings.

With the small-step powertrain's 2.64 axle ratio, "that's going to cruise in the 1,140 [RPM] range," Trzybinski said. "And now with the direct drive with those axle ratios we mentioned, we can run a direct drive as low as about 1,240 RPM at 65 mph. So we're getting down not quite to the overdrive level in terms of down-speeding, but you're also running it in direct, which brings in some new opportunities.

"We're the only integrated powertrain to offer both" the direct drive and small-step overdrive transmission options, he added.

"If you're going to go faster, like your typical line haul, and spend more time in top gear, the small-step SmartAdvantage product that we've had available since 2014 is still going to be your best fuel economy option," Trzybinski said. "But if you're going to go a little slower, maybe with a cruise speed of 62 mph and below, our options with the SmartAdvantage direct drive transmission perform better from a fuel economy standpoint."

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Driving the 2017 ISX15 with SmartAdvantage powertrain

Truck News / November 6, 2015

Having recently completed a coast-to-coast tour in the US and Canada showcasing its prototype 2017 ISX15, Cummins joined Eaton this week in Michigan to allow the first editor test drives and to announce the launch of a new SmartAdvantage powertrain.

Michael Taylor, general manager, global powertrain with Cummins, said the 2017 engine has already been well tested, even though it won’t launch until late next year. He said it has already accumulated more than nine million miles in real-world customer applications, which is equal to 4,000 trips from coast to coast. Early indications are that the engine will excel in the four key areas customers care about: uptime, fuel economy, driveability and maintenance.

Taylor vowed the 2017 ISX15 will deliver the best fuel economy and lowest overall total cost of ownership in the industry, even when compared to 13L engines.

Asked how a larger, heavier engine can compete with a more compact 13-litre in terms of fuel economy, Taylor said, “With a big bore engine like the 15-litre ISX, you are able to take advantage of the low-end torque and you’re able to lug the engine down to a lower speed. As you go lower in speed, you reduce frictional losses and improve your overall parasitics, so you’re actually operating in a more efficient range of the engine. With a big bore engine you have the opportunity to utilize that low-end torque and therefore get higher efficiency compared to a smaller engine, where you’re not capable of lugging down as far and therefore have to run at higher speeds, which generates higher friction.”

Taylor also noted 15-litre engines tend to last longer and maintain a higher residual value than 13-litre engines.

The truck I drove on some Interstate highway and secondary roads near Marshall was equipped with the 2017 ISX15 and SmartAdvantage powertrain. The SmartAdvantage combines the ISX with the Fuller Advantage Series automated manual transmission. The overdrive transmission features a small, 26% step between ninth and tenth gears, allowing for quick shifts and the ability to easily and efficiently pop back and forth between the top two gears so the transmission is always in its most efficient gear.

“The small step between ninth and tenth gives us the opportunity to switch between ninth and tenth and keep the engine right in the sweet spot,” Taylor explained. “It’s okay to downshift. It’s switching gears fast enough and selects the most efficient gear based on all the data exchanged between the engine and the transmission.”

Taylor said this is an ideal line-haul spec’, where engine cruise speeds would average 62 mph or higher. During my drive the transmission did change frequently between ninth and tenth gears. We were loaded to about 65,000 lbs and cruised at about 1,150-1,200 rpm. All SmartAdvantage powertrains are limited to gross combination weights of 80,000 lbs, making it an ideal spec’ for north-south runs into the US but posing some limitations for higher-payload domestic routes within Canada.

The SmartAdvantage powertrain with small step technology can now be ordered with 400- and 420-hp ratings, in addition to the 450-hp initial offering.

The 2017 ISX15 carries over all the latest features Cummins offers on its current product. These include: vehicle acceleration management, which limits power on acceleration to save fuel; SmartTorque2, which senses vehicle weight, grade and operating gear to slect the appropriate torque output; and SmartCoast, which disengages the driveline when coasting downhill to save fuel. Cummins officials were reluctant to divulge specific changes that have been built into the 2017 product, but those details will be available closer to the official launch date. The engines available to drive this week were prototypes, but fairly advanced in the development cycle.

During their joint press event here this week, Cummins and Eaton also announced availability of a new SmartAdvantage powertrain featuring a 10-speed direct drive transmission. The new offering, intended for regional haul and LTL applications with average road speeds of less than 62 mph, gives the SmartAdvantage broader coverage of the industry. While the small-step overdrive SmartAdvantage readily jumps between the two top gears to ensure maximum efficiency, the 10-speed direct drive is inclined to grab and hold tenth gear to maximize the time spent in more efficient direct drive.

The direct drive SmartAdvantage features faster rear axle ratios (2.26, 2.28 and 2.39 ratios are available, while the small step overdrive version offers rear axle ratios of 2.64 and 2.78).

“One of the key enablers of this technology is the release of 2.26 and 2.28 axles, which gives us the opportunity to downspeed our direct drive transmission,” explained Ryan Trzybinski, product strategy manager, commercial powertrain, Eaton. “With those axle ratios, we can run our direct drive as low as 1,240 rpm at 65 mph – not quite to the overdrive level, but running in direct drive brings new features and opportunities to us…In regional haul applications with slower speeds and where you’re able to maintain and hold top gear, direct drive can give you an advantage over our SmartAdvantage small step.”

Generally speaking, direct drive transmissions, with their ability to transmit power directly through the main shaft without parasitic losses, are more efficient than overdrive transmissions. But throw in some hills and higher average road speeds and an overdrive transmission could provide better performance, which is why Cummins and Eaton are now pleased to be able to offer both solutions.

The two companies first announced their SmartAdvantage integrated powertrain in 2014, touting a 3-6% fuel economy advantage compared to their existing products at that time, which weren’t yet fully integrated. The addition this year of SmartCoast has added another 2% in fuel savings, the companies say.

Having expanded the SmartAdvantage options available, Cummins and Eaton have also revamped their joint Web site. Customers can now access more tools and information at www.SmartAdvantagePowertrain.com to determine which configuration is best for their application.

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Can Cummins and its partners "redefine" trucking?

Fleet Owner / November 10, 2015

Driving with Cummins-Eaton powertrains in some aero-slick Class 8s

It's one thing to say it, and quite another to deliver. Cummins rolled out some trucks that'd come from its Redefining Tour last week, and industry reporters got a chance to see what they really think.

It was at Eaton's proving grounds facility in Michigan, and the companies announced new options for their integrated SmartAdvantage Powertrains. The breaking news included that there's now a direct drive ratio — said to help optimize fuel economy for regional and less-than-truckload carriers — available along with the small-step overdrive options, and Eaton and Cummins engineers said that theirs is the only integrated powertrain to offer those configurations.

But the engineers also discussed other technologies enhancing the SmartAdvantage Powertrains, including a SmartCoast feature that they said boosts fuel economy by another 2%. Fleet Owner got a chance to see some of these new features in action out on roadways.

Showcasing the Cummins-Eaton powertrains were some slick Class 8 machines, including a Kenworth T680 with a current-spec Cummins ISX15 with 450 HP and 10-speed small-step overdrive; an International ProStar+ 6X2 with one of the new 2017 Cummins ISX15s in development, also with 450 HP and 10-speed small-step overdrive; and an International ProStar+ 6X4 with another of the 2017 Cummins ISX15s, this one with 400 HP and paired with a 10-speed direct drive transmission.

All those trucks had Eaton Fuller Advantage automated manuals. For good measure, Eaton also threw in a 2013 International ProStar with 450-HP Cummins ISX15 and Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed overdrive automated manual.

Ease of use/power delivery

A claim that these trucks offer comfort and ease of use is no hollow praise. Similar to what Eaton also demonstrated with some vocational trucks, for this first-timer behind the wheel of a Class 8 tractor, it was a fairly simple matter to back up to a 53-ft. trailer and connect it thanks to the Eaton automated transmission's new Blended Pedal feature, which allows the driver to manipulate clutch slip using just the accelerator pedal for very incremental, controlled movements.

And then driving off to the proving grounds' oval track, the Cummins ISX15s and Eaton transmissions delivered smooth, ample power. Again thanks to an Eaton transmission feature — this time Urge to Move, which can creep the truck forward or in reverse, if enabled, just by the driver taking his or her foot off the brake pedal — it was easy enough to back a tractor-trailer up a curved incline.

Fuel economy

But there was also the fuel economy factor. A major drive of Cummins' Redefining Tour across the United States and Canada was to show off the capabilities of Cummins' ISX15 engine — including the new 2017 model being tested — and the fuel economy it can achieve, thanks in part to integration with Eaton transmissions.

Ryan Trzybinski, Eaton's global product strategy manager for line haul commercial powertrains, touched on that point before reporters took the trucks out for drives. He said Cummins and Eaton have continued to refine the integrated SmartAdvantage Powertrains to share more data between engine and transmission, and "that's part of what enables us to increase fuel economy and give the performance we can — we're optimizing our shifting for each environment."

Though the Cummins folks hinted at significant gains but wouldn't talk specifics yet about potential fuel economy of the new 2017 ISX15s, the Kenworth's current-spec SmartAdvantage Powertrain helped the truck average 9.3 mpg on the trip to the proving grounds facility, according to Patrick Fosdick, a program manager and technical specialist at Cummins. And that was pulling its trailer and loaded to 65,460 lbs.

"A lot of fleets would love to be getting that kind of fuel economy," he quipped.

Advanced tech

Eaton's Trzybinski had discussed the SmartAdvantage Powertrains' SmartCoast feature, which selectively shifts to neutral on certain down-grades to drop the engine to an idle, and the driver just steps on the accelerator to re-engage the appropriate gear. Together with other technologies, Trzybinski added a claim that the Cummins-Eaton SmartAdvangtage line beats competitor integrated powertrains by some 7% in fuel economy.

SmartCoast is a noticeable difference. On a trip outside the proving grounds facility in the Kenworth, SmartCoast grabbed neutral and dropped the engine down to about 600 RPM in an instant — growing very quiet as it did so — and it felt smooth and seamless when the transmission re-engaged 9th gear.

"If you're on a hilly route, you're talking big fuel economy savings," Fosdick said. "It's not a big herky-jerky motion or anything like that; it just happens very naturally."

Fosdick also told Fleet Owner about other new refinements for the SmartAdvantage Powertrains, including a feature that uses GPS data to improve cruise and transmission functionality by examining the roadway ahead, selecting optimal gears or helping trigger SmartCruise. "For 2017, we're bringing out GPS technology. A lot of people call it 'look ahead,' or another industry name is 'predictive cruise control,'" Fosdick said.

"Once we add GPS technology, it really enhances these features because it knows a hill is coming up, for example. So it knows how big the hill is, how long it is," he continued. He gave the example of a loaded truck going down a long, steeper hill, and to prevent over-speeding, SmartCruise may shift back into gear rather than coasting in neutral.

"I would love to even have some of this technology on my own car," Fosdick said. "It'd be fantastic to see some of these fuel economy and other improvements that we see in heavy duty trucking applied to passenger cars."

Videos - http://fleetowner.com/fleet-management/video-can-cummins-and-its-partners-redefine-trucking

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