Eaton eyes an electric future, updates Endurant transmission sales

[kscarbel2]

Jeff Crissey, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ)  /  March 4, 2018

With a goal to become a global leader in vehicle electrification, Eaton announced the formation of its new eMobility business unit. The new business unit will be part of the company’s Vehicle Segment business group and will leverage expertise from Eaton’s Electrical Sector business group for use in future development of electric components and power management for passenger car and commercial vehicles.

“By partnering with Eaton Electrical, we think we can provide a whole system of smart power management and distribution,” said Larry Bennett, Eaton’s director of engineering, technology and innovation.

Eaton expects the adoption of battery-electric commercial vehicles to grow from 2 percent in 2016 to 9 percent by 2030. The company plans to invest $500 million in electrification research and development in the next five years.

“The trucks of the future are going to require a lot of intelligence and efficient operation,” said Bennett. “To achieve that efficiency, we need a lot of electrification on board.”

Eaton’s roadmap to electrification includes developing a solution to handle multiple voltage levels from various electrical components.

“We are starting to see a real increase in electric powertrains, especially in buses and light- and medium-duty vehicles for last-mile applications,” said Bennett. “We now are starting to look at heavy-duty electric vehicle transmissions for drayage applications in ports where trucks have a short cycle and a lot of time spent idling. There are significant advantages in emissions reductions by being able to electrify the various fleets.”

Eaton currently is in development of a 48v mild hybrid system that removes all features that run off the engine belt and moving them to the transmission or totally electrifying them.

“With engine-off coasting on a downhill grade, you still need to maintain electrical power to all the features on the vehicle,” said Bennett. “By moving the generator to the back side of the transmission and allow the rear wheels to drive this generator when the engine is off while going downhill, you now can provide power for power steering systems, air compressor, cooling systems and fans.”

Another use case for electrification to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a fixed-displacement EGR pump that provides EGR flow independent of engine speed. “All the [engine maker] has to do is tell us how much EGR is needed, and we could control the speed of the motor to provide that exact flow rate,” said Bennett.

Endurant update

Eaton says it now has more than 3,500 Eaton Cummins Endurant 12-speed automated transmissions in the field with more than 20 million road miles since it was launched at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show last fall.

The Endurant transmission was purpose-built for line-haul applications, but Eaton expects to see that product move into some other applications typically served by the Fuller Advantage and UltraShift Plus transmissions in the next several years.

Scott Davis, general manager of Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies, said the joint venture is working on adding new functionality in the near future, including advanced shifting integration technologies and coasting enhancements.

“We are looking beyond the transmission into the entire powertrain to make shifting adjustments faster, smoother and more consistent,” said Davis. “With smart coast and neutral coast, you’re going to see us introducing more novel ways to execute such fuel-efficient features looking ahead.”

[kscarbel2]

Eaton-Cummins prepping Endurant for expansion

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner  /  March 5, 2018

Joint venture looks to expand the reach of its 12-speed AMT in the coming months.

ATLANTA. Since its introduction last October, the Endurant 12-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) is witnessing strong growth, according to Scott Davis, general manager of the Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies joint venture. It is now being positioned to expand into other trucking segments outside of the linehaul market – especially into the heavy haul 110,000 lb.-plus GCVW sector.

Right now, AMT penetration is roughly 30% into the heavy-haul market, Davis explained to Fleet Owner, and while he doesn’t expect it to reach the 70% to 80% penetration now being experienced in the linehaul segment, it could be 40% by next year due to a number of factors.

Related: Endurant automated transmission: A league of its own

“What we see happening is more retirement of experienced drivers and more linehaul drivers moving into this [heavy haul] segment who don’t have the skills with a manual transmission,” Davis explained here during a press conference at the 2018 Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting. “The [AMT] technology is advancing and better integration [with engines] means smoother shifting plus more improved fuel economy. Think also about distraction: drivers must constantly think about shift points with a manual. Then there is fatigue issue: the mental and physical energy expended to manually shift gears, especially in stop-and-go environments. AMTs very good fit for that stop-and-go aspect of linehaul, that regional daycab operation.”

Since it went into production in October of last year, Davis said Eaton-Cummins has built and deployed 3,500 Endurant AMTs – “those numbers are probably already outdated as this his has been a very aggressive ramp up for us,” he said – and he expects to see it move into market segments currently covered by Eaton’s Fuller Advantage and UltraShift Plus AMT products.

“The key that the Endurant is a ‘purpose built’ AMT so we have optimized its architecture and reduced weight by several hundred pounds,” Davis explained. “AMTs also provide the technical foundation for telematics and predictive cruise, among other features. We can also get data on time spent in gear, how many times manual override occurs, etc. – that helps us calibrate shift schedules better. So if you operate in the Rocky Mountains, we can calibrate [the Endurant] differently versus operating on flat Florida highways. And we’re looking at over-the-air updates for calibration patterns just like engines; there is a lot of opportunity for that.”

He added that AMTs “are really going to help us with that transition to newer, younger, lesser-skilled drivers” as well as comply with greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations heavy truck targets expected to go into effect in 2021, 2024, and 2027.

“We’ll see a better result with [GHG] compliance by using AMTs – we’ll be better ability to meet the rules,” Davis stressed. “Integration gives you the ability for more consistent fuel consumption on routes, as well help in looking [at the road] ahead as get we get more advanced with smart coasting. Further out, we foresee predictive shifting at cruise to really optimize drive cycles.”

He also noted that one feedback point from customers concerned warranty protection for transmission “burnout,” which is something Eaton-Cummins is now offering for the Endurant.

Davis added that Eaton-Cummins also remains focused on delivering a “next-generation” Endurant product as well. “Our team is solely focused on automated transmissions; they know how to make the powertrain package work seamlessly as a single unit,” he explained. “You will see a whole pipeline of products as we work on advanced shifting – looking beyond transmission alone to include the entire powertrain as we seek ways to make shifts smoother and faster, including ways to execute more fuel-efficient features.”