The Kenworth T680 Advantage Day Cab features an optimized powertrain that includes the 2016 Paccar MX-13 or MX-11 engine and the Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed automated transmission. Those are combined with fuel-efficient Meritor MT40-14X drive axles rated at 40,000 pounds, Kenworth Driver Performance Assistant, Kenworth Predictive Cruise Control, Kenworth Neutral Coast, and Flow Below wheel covers.
In designing the daycab truck, Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing manager, says the company borrowed fuel-efficiency optimization specifications and aerodynamic treatments on its T680 Advantage 76-inch sleeper – the truck maker’s most fuel-efficient truck.
The Kenworth T680 Advantage Day Cab also includes aerodynamic treatments designed to further reduce aerodynamic drag and improve fuel economy, like a front air dam, roof cap “bulb” seal, lower fairing extensions and lower fairing closeouts.
Swihart says the T680 Advantage Day Cab offers up to a 6 percent fuel economy improvement compared to a non-optimized Kenworth T680 Day Cab with the previous generation of Paccar MX-13 engine, Eaton Fuller automated transmission, and standard drive axles.
Kenworth applying grants to development of near zero-emissions T680
The Advantage package isn’t the only thing in store for the T680. Kenworth has been awarded $8.6 million in government grants that the company will use to support low emissions projects for its T680 Day Cabs targeted for use as drayage tractors in Southern California ports.
Mike Dozier, Kenworth general manager and Paccar vice president, says hybrid-electric powertrains are expected to be required within the next decade to meet emissions requirements in several major U.S. metropolitan areas. California is already considering regulations requiring port drayage trucks to run at zero-emission levels when operating in economically disadvantaged communities.
The first two projects are funded at $1.9 million each by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with Southern California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) as the prime applicant. Kenworth will build two, proof-of-concept T680 Day Cab drayage tractors to transport freight from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to warehouses and railyards along the I-710 corridor in the Los Angeles basin.
The first T680 Day Cab will be a hybrid electric drayage truck producing near-zero-emissions utilizing currently available compressed natural gas (CNG) engine to generate electrical power. The second T680 Day Cab will feature a hydrogen fuel cell offering true zero-emissions operation. These trucks are expected to be identical, except for their power generation systems. Both trucks will have an all-electric range of 30 miles, as well as on-board CNG and hydrogen capacity, respectively, of 100 diesel gallons equivalent.
The third project is funded at $4.8 million by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), again with the SCAQMD as the prime applicant. Kenworth will build four hybrid-electric T680 Day Cabs and support the customer field test of the units in Southern California drayage operations.
