Next generation Ram

FishOnOne wrote:

I'm assuming fuel economy will be an improvement, but what about power?

Edit: Duh.... Missed the article. Not sure how the start/stop feature will work in stop in go driving but perhaps its part of how they meet the emissions requirements.

Engine not running = No emissions to worry about.

I don't think start/stop feature is mainly for the pickup version of these engines. The availability of a start/stop feature embedded in the software is probably mainly for vocational medium duty customers of these engine.

About a decade ago, Cummins was working with Parker Hannifin on a their hybrid RunWise refuse trucks. The trucks had Cummins engines for highway use and a hydrostatic drive to use during the stop and go driving in the neighborhoods picking up trash. The hydrostatic drive used the energy from the truck braking to power the truck to the next trash can which was usually just yards away. While in a neighborhood, the engine was not needed at all, and just idled for the most part. If they found a way for the hydrostatic drive to run electronics and HVAC while the engine was off then the engine does not need to be running and a start/stop feature would save lots of money.

Another application where this was used were school buses. A vast majority of diesel powered school buses are with the same 6.7L in the pickups since it is the base engine for Blue-Bird large school buses and the only diesel engine available for Navistar's IC-Bus CE series line which are the main ones out there.