Fuel economy is an important aspect to reduce operating costs and improve the efficiency of long-haul trucks which is a matter of great importance to FPT Industrial, as demonstrated by the Brand’s numerous inventions, innovations and patents, including the exclusive and unbeaten HI-eSCR2 after-treatment system.
The IMPERIUM project (IMplementation of Powertrain Control for Economic and Clean Real driving Emission and Consumption) was created with higher efficiency in mind and under the aegis of the European Commission and the European Green Vehicles Initiative EGVI.
The project’s main objective was to achieve a 20% fuel consumption (diesel and urea) and consequently CO2 reduction compared to model-year 2014 vehicle, whilst keeping the vehicle within the legal limits for pollutant emissions. This demanding challenge was taken by the IMPERIUM consortium, including FPT Industrial.
The IMPERIUM consortium is responsible for 45% of the heavy-duty vehicles manufactured in the EU and can provide a 100% European value chain for the development of future powertrain control strategies for trucks. The overall objective is the development of new means of predictive and comprehensive powertrain control optimally, exploiting the full potential of the individual systems for each vehicle application and mission.
The newly developed components have been first validated on various platforms such as Hardware in the Loop (HiL), engine testbed and demonstrator trucks, including an IVECO STRALIS powered by FPT Industrial, and then further integrated into this environment for evaluation of their impact on the complete system. The IMPERIUM project developed and demonstrated optimal powertrain control and advanced powertrain concepts for heavy-duty vehicles, integration thereof into testbeds and demonstration vehicles and proof of compliance with fuel economy targets (20% improvement compared to the same vehicle with conventional control with consequent CO2 reduction) and Euro VI standards under real driving conditions. IMPERIUM also developed a methodology to determine the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles and the compliance with Euro VI under real driving conditions based on a smart combination of simulations, measurements and tests.
