GREENVILLE, S.C.—Daimler Trucks North America is equipping its Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 heavy-duty truck with Michelin X Line EnergyTM D+ long-haul drive tires as part of the new truck's fuel-efficiency improvement package.
Three years in development, the tire will be contributing to the new Cascadia's 5 percent fuel-efficiency improvement over the 2017 model, Michelin North American Inc. said.
With about 35 percent of vehicle fuel consumption attributed to overcoming tire rolling resistance, the X Line Energy D+ offers ultra-low rolling resistance in a dual drive tire as one of Daimler's key fuel-efficiency building blocks in the new Cascadia.
"The strong partnership with Daimler Trucks North America has resulted in new technology development through a close, collaborative and technical relationship," Adam Murphy, vice president, B2B marketing, Michelin North America, said.
"In 2000, the partnership was key for the launch of the Michelin X One wide-base single tire on the Freightliner Century truck. Michelin also worked with DTNA on the SuperTruck prototype, providing specially formulated low rolling-resistance tires. Our partnership has been rewarding for both parties and we look forward to this relationship continuing for decades to come."
Michelin and DTNA began collaborating in 2015 through an advanced-engineering project to reduce the fuel consumption of Freightliner's next-generation Cascadia Class 8 heavy-duty trucks. The project took a holistic-design approach to design an ultra-low rolling-resistance tire for the tractor drive axle that integrated new-vehicle technologies to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining tire wear, Michelin said.
The project combined tire-vehicle performance simulation with experimental validation and yielded a product with the lowest rolling resistance offered by Michelin in a dual-fitment drive tire, the tire maker said.
The X Line Energy D+ in size 275/80R22.5 will be fitted exclusively as original equipment on the new Cascadia trucks and will be commercialized for the replacement market later in the year.
"Selecting the right tire can play an important role in the fuel efficiency of Class 8 trucks," Kary Schaefer, general manager, marketing and strategy for Daimler, said.
"At DTNA, we continue to push the limits when it comes to achieving new heights in fuel efficiency, and our continued partnership with Michelin has helped us further improve the new Cascadia's already impressive performance."