Predictive Powertrain Control on Actros, Antos and Arocs

“Amazing what a bit of technology and training can achieve,” smiles Colin Bamford. He has good reason to be happy. The Fleet Manager at award-winning Potter Logistics is clutching his latest FleetBoard telematics report, which confirms that having previously averaged a highly creditable 10 mpg, last week one of his 44-tonne Actros tractor units recorded a stunning 10.6 mpg.

What’s particularly impressive is that just two months earlier, the same driver in the same vehicle was regularly turning in 9.2 mpg. “From 9.2 to 10.6 mpg in eight weeks,” muses Bamford. “That’s a lot better than we could possibly have hoped for.”

So what’s changed? To what can such a dramatic improvement in fuel economy be ascribed? This answer is that this particular truck has been retrospectively fitted with the manufacturer’s ground-breaking Predictive Powertrain Control system, and that to coincide with the installation its two drivers have benefited from Mercedes-Benz training.

Predictive Powertrain Control is an innovative cruise control that employs digital 3D mapping and GPS data to scan the road ahead. Armed with this topographical information it manages gear changes and vehicle speed, making full use of the truck’s EcoRoll function to restrict diesel consumption and CO₂ emissions. By also applying engine braking at every opportunity the system reduces component wear and tear, while drivers are less stressed and safer because it leaves them free to concentrate fully on the road ahead.

The fuel-saving potential of Predictive Powertrain Control, which covers 99% of all UK motorways and 97% of major roads, is well-proven, as it has been optionally available on new vehicles since 2013. However, provided the vehicle has a Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmission it can now be installed on Actros, Antos and Arocs models that are already in operation – York-based Potter Logistics is one of the first to take advantage of this recently introduced ‘retrofit’ opportunity.

Predictive Powertrain Control can deliver fuel efficiency savings on any operation but is most effective in hilly terrain. The Euro V truck which Potter Logistics is using to trial the technology is based at a depot in Ripon and has been providing reliable service for a couple of years. An Actros 2545 with 330 kW (449 hp) straight-six engine, it is double-shifted and typically spends its days delivering packaged chemicals in and around North Yorkshire and Lancashire. Each night it pulls a double-deck trailer from Ripon to Middlesbrough then Heysham and back.

Bamford, whose fleet of 31 tractor units and a dozen 26-tonne rigids is dominated by Mercedes-Benz, says: “This vehicle is worked hard and clocks-up around 4 000 km per week on some challenging routes. Following discussions with our local Dealer we decided it offered the best opportunity to gauge the Predictive Powertrain Control system’s effectiveness, and on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far it looks very good indeed. We’re not able to make an accurate comparison for the night shift yet, because we have sometimes used other drivers on that, but the improvement in mpg performance during the day has been really impressive.”

Bamford says that if replicated by the night driver, the 0.8 mpg saved by experienced day driver Mike Potter in raising his average returns from 9.2 to 10 mpg (before he posted his spectacular 10.6) would equate to an annual reduction of £4 342 in diesel and AdBlue costs for the vehicle.