Ever wonder about what truck power management will look like in the future? Here’s some insight into what to expect within the next 10 plus years.
It comes from Larry Bennett, director of the Vehicle Technical Innovation Center at power management company Eaton’s Vehicle Group. He shared the company’s “technology road map” during a press conference at the 2017 Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition, held recently in Nashville, TN.
Bennett prefaced his remarks noting the “drivers” of future technology development – regulations, profitability and societal and environmental influences, as well as a key megatrend – clean, intelligent mobility.
Five Years
Over the next five years, Bennett foresees:
- The transfer of passenger car valvetrain technology to commercial vehicles.
- Electro-mechanical valvetrain actuation.
- The growth of automated manual transmission (AMT) and dual-clutch transmission (DCT) transmissions.
- Torque filling. This is a technology that increases shift quality.
- Smart charging. Basically, this is the intelligent charging of electric vehicles where charging can be shifted based on grid loads and in accordance with the vehicle owner’s needs.
- Intelligent vehicle enablers.
- More over-the-air programming. This is the wireless delivery of new software or data.
- The evolution of advanced prognostics and health management solutions for vehicles and components.
10 Plus Years
Among Bennett’s predictions for the next 10 plus years:
- Electric valvetrain actuation.
- Improvements with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).
- Flexible system architecture.
- Electric powertrains.
- Predictive controls.
- Autonomy enablers.
48-Volt Systems
As vehicles become more high-tech, there also comes the need for higher power requirements. That, along with ever-stricter emissions regulations, has truck OEMs looking at 48-volt battery systems, says Bennett.
He also says there will be more electrocution of trucks to power accessories in order to reduce parasitic losses.
