Kenworth announces Friday it has updated the Predictive Cruise Control functionality available for the Kenworth T680 and T880, coming in conjunction with the new 2017 Paccar MX-11 and MX-13 engines and Cummins X15 engines. The updates offer fuel economy boosts, the company says.
Predictive Cruise Control optimizes cruising speed based on topographical GPS data inputs. As the truck enters certain types of terrain, such as rolling hills, the system modulates cruising speed to optimize performance. For example, as the truck ascends and crests a hill, Predictive Cruise Control will allow the vehicle speed to drop slightly below the set cruise speed. This boosts fuel economy since the truck is now using momentum instead of fuel to maintain set cruise speed.
“While the driver interface remains unchanged, drivers who have driven Kenworth trucks with Predictive Cruise Control will notice an improvement in driveability, as well as fuel economy,” said KW Chief Engineer Patrick Dean said. “Improved driveability and fuel economy were made possible by fine tuning how the engine modulates speed and torque over a wide variety of actual driving conditions.”
