For most commercial truck drivers, regens range from a minor inconvenience to a significant issue. But did you know cutting down on idling dramatically reduces the regularity of regens, extends the life of your DPF and DOC, and reduces fuel spending? Installing an electric APU with efficient lithium batteries is one of the easiest ways to reduce your idle times!
How Does Idling Damage the Aftertreatment System?
The DPF and the DOC are big filters that trap unburnt fuel, soot and other harmful particles to prevent them from escaping from your exhaust pipe into the surrounding air. Through passive and active regens, the truck uses hot exhaust to burn the accumulated material off the face of the DPF, clearing the passage through it. The DPF is designed to self-clean in this way and is equipped to burn off the build-up from regular driving.
However, as the lowest duty cycle of a commercial truck, idling generates much more soot than driving. Engines built since the introduction of anti-idle legislation aren’t designed to handle this quantity of soot. The result is that the DPF gets overwhelmed and prematurely clogged up. Excessive idling burns through enormous amounts of fuel and increases the number of regens. This means shorter maintenance intervals, early DPF cleaning and a reduced working life for this expensive part. But by cutting your truck’s idle times, you can extend your DPF’s working life and reduce inconvenient forced regens!
How Can Batteries Reduce Idling?
Many modern trucks have an idle reduction system called an electric APU. This system allows you to reduce idle times by powering your sleeper cab electronics when the engine’s switched off. Trucks without an APU often have to idle for extended periods to power sleeper-cab features like temperature control, kitchen appliances and small electronics. This drives up your operating costs, burning lots of increasingly expensive fuel! On top of this, idling puts unnecessary pressure on your engine and aftertreatment system. By installing an electric APU, you can power your sleeper’s essential electronics, saving your DPF for driving, not for idling.
Why Choose Lithium APU Batteries?
Lithium batteries may seem more expensive in the short term and this initial cost puts some drivers off. But overall lithium batteries actually save you money! They last 10× longer before being replaced and have twice the runtime between charges, without reduced performance when the battery runs low. The result is that your appliances run for longer, but you don’t have to idle to charge your batteries.
Lithium batteries are also very resilient, surviving rough trucking conditions from knocks and jolts to extreme temperatures and splashback. You can find out more about the benefits of lithium trucking batteries here, or head to our LightningVolt™ page to purchase a Roadwarrior lithium battery.
