On the heels of its long-distance Optifuel Lab 2 truck, Renault Trucks and six partners are expanding research efforts to create a fuel-efficient distribution vehicle. The Efficient Distribution Truck (EDIT) project aims to design a prototype Renault Trucks D Wide Euro 6 with a refrigerated body able to cut fuel consumption by 13% over a comparable vehicle.

Concept drawing of the planned EDIT vehicle.Project partners include Valeo, Lamberet, Michelin, BeNomad, LamCoS and Ifsttar. The resulting technology is expected to be commercially available by 2020. The project expects to first revise aerodynamics and the refrigerated body and then fit the prototype with a low-voltage macro-hybrid system that recovers a percentage of braking energy via a reversible electric system. The system will then power auxiliary equipment with recovered electrical energy and provide occasional support to the internal combustion engine.

Renault plans to integrate a range of driver aid solutions, including the ability to connect to traffic lights and travel at the most fuel-efficient speed necessary to adjust to when the lights change. The EDIT vehicle will also run on low rolling-resistant tires.

Expectations are that the first vehicle will be completed in 2018.