Scania develops predictive topographic GPS cruise control system

Swedish truck and bus manufacturer Scania has developed a cruise control system that uses GPS to determine a vehicle’s position and to predict the topography of the road ahead. The vehicle’s cruising speed is adjusted before starting an ascent or descent, in doing so helping the driver to maximize fuel economy. The system can deliver a fuel saving of up to 3% when driving on undulating stretches of road. The new Scania Active Prediction system is intuitive and adapts driving style to the topography, allowing drivers to save fuel when driving new routes, in the dark or under adverse weather conditions. The time factor is often a high priority in transport services although this is often paid for in terms of higher fuel consumption.

This new cruise control system has been developed to help drivers get to their destination with minimal time loss. In a full day’s driving, this may only be a couple of minutes, which for the great majority of transport companies is marginal compared to the financial and environmental benefits. Based on a 40-ton truck running 180,000km/year (112,000 miles/year), a fuel saving of 3% would reduce fuel consumption by about 1,700 liters (450 gallons) annually – equivalent to an annual reduction in fuel costs of almost €2,200 (US$2,866) and a reduction in CO2 emissions of over 4 tons. Scania will start to deliver trucks with the Active Prediction system to customers starting next year. Topographic map data is available for around 95% of the road network in Central and Western Europe, with improved data on the way for Eastern Europe and Turkey.

16 December 2011