Michelin North America, Inc. is partnering with Daimler Trucks North America on a key feature of the recently announced Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 heavy-duty truck. Three years in development, the MICHELIN X Line EnergyTM D+ tyre will be the featured long haul drive-tyre solution, contributing to the new Cascadia‘s 5 percent fuel-efficiency improvement over the 2017 model. With about 35 percent of vehicle fuel consumption attributed to overcoming tyre rolling resistance, the MICHELIN X Line Energy D+ sets new standards for ultra-low rolling resistance in a dual drive tyre as one of DTNA‘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,” said Adam Murphy, vice president, B2B marketing, Michelin North America. “In 2000, the partnership was key for the launch of the MICHELIN X ONE wide base single tyre on the Freightliner Century truck. Michelin also worked with DTNA on the SuperTruck prototype, providing specially formulated low rolling-resistance tyres. Our partnership has been rewarding for both parties, and we look forward to this relationship continuing for decades to come.”

In 2015, Michelin and DTNA began collaboration through an advanced-engineering project with the objective 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 tyre for the tractor drive axle that integrated new-vehicle technologies to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining tyre wear.

The project combined tyre-vehicle performance simulation with experimental validation and yielded a product with the lowest rolling resistance offered by Michelin in a dual-fitment drive tyre. The MICHELIN 275/80R22.5 X Line Energy D+ tyre will be fitted exclusively as original equipment on the new Cascadia trucks recently announced by DTNA and will be commercialised for the replacement market later in the year.

“Selecting the right tyre can play an important role in the fuel efficiency of Class 8 trucks,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager, marketing and strategy for Daimler Trucks North America. “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.”