Mercedes-Benz To Introduce New Line To Their Fleet

Mercedes-Benz has long been one of the seasoned contenders for on land freight transportation. The company has just released its new Actros L, Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ largest and most luxurious production vehicle to date. The production and official unveiling is set to go ahead in November 2021. 

The new truck joins the Actros family, which was introduced in 2018, and features a larger cab with more comfort and refinement. Various equipment features, such as seat covers, new door trim, a comfy mattress with 45mm thick topper, and a tactile cab rear panel in the bed area, aim to improve driver comfort and convenience.

“When developing the Actros L, we placed particular focus on driver comfort, safety, connectivity and Total Cost of Ownership to create further benefits in these aspects for our customers and their drivers,” said Andreas von Wallfeld, head of marketing, sales and services at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. 

Von Wallfeld said close dialogue with customers gave Mercedes-Benz Trucks a clear understanding of what they want from a premium truck for both their company and their drivers. 

“And it’s precisely these requirements that we addressed in the Actros L and as a result, we have been able to design and configure our new flagship to the appropriately high standards,” he said.

The company has already launched two new models in 2021, the Actros F with a focus on functionality, and the limited edition Actros Edition 2. The Actros L can be ordered Europe-wide from 1 July 2021 on and goes into production in November 2021. 

Driver’s cab

On the StreamSpace, BigSpace and GigaSpace variants, the cab is 2.5m wide, making for a spacious interior. The lack of engine tunnel means that the cab has a flat floor, and the improved cab noise and heat insulation keeps unwanted and annoying noise at bay. The seating position has been lowered by 40mm.

The optionally available, newly designed LED main headlamps have a higher light intensity than xenon headlamps and provide improved illumination of the road.

Safety

Lane Keeping Assist, Proximity Control Assist and MirrorCam replace the main and wide-angle mirrors.

Mercedes-Benz Sideguard Assist S1X which, compared with the previous system S1R, is equipped with a further function that could potentially save lives. This new system, called Active Sideguard Assist, no longer simply warns the driver of moving pedestrians or cyclists on the co-driver’s side. If the driver then fails to respond to the warnings in time, it is now able to initiate an automated braking manoeuvre at turning speeds of up to 20kph to bring the vehicle to a standstill. Active Sideguard Assist can recognise the need for such a braking manoeuvre and, in an ideal scenario, prevent a potential collision. 

Second generation Active Drive Assist (ADA 2). Under certain preconditions the system actively assists the driver with longitudinal and lateral guidance of the truck and can automatically maintain the distance to the vehicle ahead, accelerate and also steer if the necessary system conditions such as sufficient curve radius or clearly visible road markings are met. In addition, ADA 2 includes the Emergency Stop Assist sub-function which is able to initiate an emergency stop if the driver is no longer controlling the steering wheel, despite visual and audible warnings. If the truck comes to a standstill, the system can automatically engage the new electronic parking brake. In addition, the doors are unlocked so that paramedics and other first responders can directly reach the driver in case of a medical emergency. 

If an emergency braking assistant is required by law, the Actros L is also equipped with Active Brake Assist 5 (ABA 5) as standard, which features a pedestrian recognition function. This system can help to avoid accidents where, due to the driver being distracted, the following distance being too short, or an inappropriate speed, the truck is at risk of colliding with a vehicle ahead or a stationary vehicle, or there is a risk of a frontal collision with a pedestrian. ABA 5 works using a combined radar and camera system. 

Made-to-measure connectivity 

In conjunction with these assistance systems, the truck also features intelligent cruise and transmission control system Predictive Powertrain Control. The system can take into account the topography, the course of a road and traffic signs in certain situations. This means that unnecessary braking, accelerating and gear shifting can be avoided. 

With the help of PPC, the latest Actros generation consumes up to three percent less diesel on expressways and motorways than vehicles not equipped with the system, while on rural roads it can even be as much as five percent less. 

The new Eco-Support display in the Multimedia Cockpit Interactive helps the driver to adopt a driving style that’s as economical as possible. 

The driver is shown the activities and functions of assistance systems such as ABA 5, ADA 2 or PPC in the standard user-friendly Multimedia Cockpit, with its two colour displays forming the centrepiece of the Human-Machine Interface. In the Actros L, this also includes as an optional feature displays for the total weight of the towing vehicle and trailer and for the front axle load, even for semitrailer trucks with only partial air suspension. This helps the driver to keep an eye on the weight and prevent overloading.

The Actros L signifies a significant step in the direction of automated trucking and seamless integration of man and machine in an industry that is somewhat archaic when compared to private vehicles. Driver comfort and safety are the primary improvements over the last fleet of trucks in 2018-19. 

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https://www.nztrucking.co.nz/mercedes-benz-trucks-launches-the-actros-l