FPInnovations’ Performance Innovation Transport (PIT) group will hold its first U.S. Energotest at the Continental Truck Tires Uvalde Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas, Feb. 3-7, 2014.
PIT is a not-for-profit engineering and research group for the North American trucking industry. Its Energotest events have been held since 2007 at the Transport Canada test track operated by PMG Technologies in Blainville, Quebec. The tests allow PIT to conduct fuel consumption evaluations of trucks and a range of technologies.
“We’re bringing Energotest to the U.S. to provide the industry’s most accurate and indisputable results on the return on investment fleets can expect from green technologies,” said Yves Provencher, director of PIT. “We use only proven controlled test-track fuel efficiency evaluation procedures to provide the commercial vehicle industry with the information it needs to make sound equipment choices and capital investments.”
One of the purposes of the tests is to provide independent verification of a technology’s fuel efficiency performance, said Provencher.
“Fleet managers who are early adopters of green technologies attend Energotest to find solutions they can use to transport goods in an environmentally friendly and cost efficient manner,” he said.
Provencher explained that the widely accepted and proven SAE J1321 procedure is the most accurate method for evaluating technology’s impact on fuel consumption. “Other tests, such as those that measure aerodynamic drag reduction, make assumptions about the effect of a technology on fuel use,” he explained. “Drag can be accurately measured, but the formulas used to translate it into fuel economy could be inaccurate.
“We measure fuel consumption on a track where every possible variable is controlled,” Provencher added. “The result is a fuel saving projection that is highly representative of what a fleet can expect to realize in actual over the road service. While we may test as many as 20 technologies during one week-long Energotest event, each test is completed in one or two consecutive days, which removes uncertainties associated with tests that are performed over several days or even weeks.”
