October 21, 2023. Shell Starship 3.0 has successfully completed a U.S. West Coast demonstration run to once again, showcase the art of the possible for efficiency and carbon reduction in commercial road transport.
This 3rd generation Starship truck, equipped with a Cummins X15N™ natural gas engine and powered by renewable natural gas (RNG), ran a fully loaded trailer on an 840-mile loop throughout California collecting critical performance data.
The results were revealed at Shell’s ‘Ultimate Stop Over’ event in Dubai, where industry leaders, original equipment manufacturers, advisors, distributors, and fleet managers from the global commercial road transport sector convened to discuss the future of the sector.
Shell Starship 3.0, loaded with Shell Rotella engine oil, measured sustainable freight ton efficiency using ton-miles of goods transported per kilogram of CO2 emitted (FTE CO2e). These results were third-party monitored and verified by The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), as was done with the first two versions of the Starship demonstrations.
Shell Starship 3.0 completed the demonstration run while operating near the maximum permissible gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds for a Class 8 truck. Shell Starship 3.0 achieved improvements over the U.S. average for diesel class 8 trucks of 2.54 times better freight ton efficiency (FTE) assessed on a ton-miles per gallon basis and 3.23 times better FTE assessed on a ton-miles per kg of CO2e emitted basis.
The Cummins X15N™ natural gas engine powered by RNG emits less CO2 than a diesel engine and further confirms to fleets the potential for different engine and fuel options to reduce CO2 emissions.
“Shell Starship 3.0 demonstrates the power of innovation by incorporating a new natural gas engine complimented by today’s available technologies to help reduce emissions in the road transport industry,” said Dr. Selda Gunsel, President of Shell Global Solutions and VP Fuels and Lubricants Technology.
More information in www.usgasvehicles.com
