Eaton Cummins Endurance Automated Transmission Designed to Save Fuel, Weight, Maintenance
ATLANTA – Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies unveiled the first product from its joint venture, a lightweight, efficient automated transmission, at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show.
Company officials said the new Endurant 12-speed automated transmission is the lightest, most efficient 1,850 lb.-ft.-capable heavy-duty transmission. Designed for linehaul applications, it weighs up to 105 pounds less than competitive automated manual transmissions (AMTs).
“Fleets will find that Endurant has been intelligently engineered from the ground up with features that protect your investment and make it easy to maintain,” said Scott Davis, general manager, Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies. “With a sophisticated communication system between the engine and transmission software, Endurant promises to deliver industry-best performance and reliability, fuel efficiency, reduced maintenance, and driver comfort features.”
Company officials stressed that Endurant is not an automated version of a manual transmission “Endurant was designed, engineered and created from a clean sheet to be an automated transmission, not simply an update to an AMT, allowing us to optimize the transmission’s weight, dimensions and features,” explained Gerard DeVito, vice president, Technology, Eaton Vehicle Group.
“The market demands have changed, and automated transmissions really are the future, they’re what our customers are asking, what drivers are asking for,” said Jeff Bosscher, systems engineering manager, Endurant.
The Endurant shares many of the features of the new Paccar Automated Transmission, which was designed by Eaton to work with Paccar powertrains.
An extensive component and complete vehicle testing program put Endurant through extreme conditions at the Eaton Proving Grounds in Marshall, Michigan, as well as in the high heat of Death Valley, California, and minus 40-degree temperatures in northern Minnesota – more than 2 million equivalent field test miles in all, they said.
The joint venture got customer input throughout the process, not just from fleets, but from drivers, technicians, and others as well.
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