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Big-Rig Technologies Provide Peek at Pickup Truck Future
Advanced technology powertrains and self-driving vehicles are two important topics in the auto industry that likely will have a major impact on pickup trucks in the future. Just about every automaker has powertrain and autonomy advancements in their strategy plans. But even though automakers are looking to the future, it looks like the first real-world applications of advanced powertrains and vehicle autonomy will be in the big-rig cargo-hauling arena.
Case in point: Toyota just announced at the 2019 CES in Las Vegas that it will partner with big-rig-maker Kenworth Truck Co. to produce the first production Class 8 hydrogen-fuel-cell big rigs to haul heavy cargo across Southern California from the Port of Los Angeles, one of the largest ports in the world. The first real-world application of the new powertrains, a direct result of an earlier Toyota collaboration with Kenworth, will be in the popular Kenworth T680 platform. The fuel-cell powertrain has a 300-mile-plus range; Toyota says the 10 hydrogen-powered electric big rigs will go into operation in 2020. Even though Toyota isn't saying so, we imagine that a version of this new powertrain technology could trickle down to more consumer vehicles like the Sequoia SUV or full-size Tundra pickup truck. However, to make that happen, the powertrains will have to be smaller and lighter, and more hydrogen fueling stations will have to be built.
Also at CES, Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler revealed its newest Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 rig that's equipped with Mercedes' most advanced semi-autonomous technology to date. The German automaker has been working on big-rig autonomy for long-distance, cross-country cargo hauling for several years, and we were quite impressed when we got a chance to ride inside one. But now Daimler is taking big-rig driving autonomy to a whole new level.
The Freightliner's newest semi-autonomous-driving system is categorized as SAE Level 2, meaning it has automated functions like startup, braking, acceleration and steering but the driver must remain engaged with the driving tasks and monitor the environment. Features like adaptive cruise control, collision warning and automatic emergency braking could reduce rear-end collisions by as much as 60 to 80 percent, as well as reduce driver fatigue. The big news, though, is Daimler's ambitious plan to skip Level 3 conditional autonomy — in which a driver is necessary but not required to monitor the driving environment — to Level 4 high automation, meaning the vehicle can perform all driving functions under certain conditions. In Level 3, the driver must be ready to take control of the vehicle at all times; in Level 4, drivers "may" have the option to control the vehicle.
We think semi-autonomous and autonomous driving makes more sense in the cargo-hauling sector than in the personal consumer arena because there's a consistent amount of big-rig traffic flowing on standardized routes with little variation. Even consumer electric vehicle companies like Tesla are poised to jump into the big-rig sector with semi-autonomous vehicles to grab attention and potential profits. And at some point in 2019, Tesla should reveal its consumer electric pickup truck, likely with some new big-rig technology inside.
Whether these new powertrain or self-driving technologies stay exclusive to the big-rig sector or filter down to our cargo-hauling three-quarter and one-ton pickup trucks is anyone's guess. All we know is that it's not likely to happen anytime soon. But it sure is interesting to think about.
