The Energy Technologies Institute’s (ETI) £40million heavy-duty vehicle efficiency programme has been officially launched.
The scheme is designed to look at both systems integration and technology development across the HDV sector including marine transportation with the aim to increase the efficiencies of land and marine vehicles by up to 30%.
ETI has started out by earmarking £3million for the design of a range of vehicles and machines to incorporate increased efficiencies. US diesel engine manufacturer Caterpillar will be the preferred supplier of a later £9million demonstration phase project. The technologies developed will be utilised across a portfolio of vehicles which includes HGVs, coaches, buses, tractors, back-hoe loaders, wheeled loaders and articulated quarry trucks. The project will use a Caterpillar 725 Series articulated truck during the demonstration phase to verify that the predicted benefits translate into a real world performance.