Predictive (map-based) cruise and powertrain control

Predictive cruise control, also marketed as predictive powertrain control, extends conventional cruise control by reading the road ahead rather than reacting only to the immediate situation. It combines GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning with stored topographic maps that record road gradient, allowing the powertrain to anticipate climbs and descents several hundred metres in advance. Knowing, for example, that a downhill stretch follows a crest, the system can ease off before the summit and let momentum carry the vehicle over, then allow it to accelerate gently on the descent.

Using this look-ahead information, the controller optimises cruise speed, gear selection and coasting. Coasting may include engine-off coasting (sometimes called sailing or eco-roll), in which the driveline is opened and the engine returned to idle or stopped so the vehicle rolls freely, conserving fuel where the gradient permits. Because the system reacts to the road profile ahead rather than to felt acceleration, it can manage these transitions earlier and more smoothly than a driver relying on sight and experience alone. As the logic is implemented in software, its behaviour can be refined after delivery through over-the-air (OTA) updates, so fuel-saving performance can improve over a vehicle's service life without hardware changes.

The look-ahead horizon keeps lengthening. MAN's EfficientCruise with PredictiveDrive, offered across its truck ranges from the TGL to the TGX for both combustion and electric drivetrains, uses high resolution 3D maps and GPS positioning to read the profile of the selected navigation route up to three kilometres ahead and select the optimum driving and gear shifting strategy. Ahead of IAA Transportation 2026, MAN quoted fuel or energy savings of around 5% from consistent use, rising to as much as 9% in demanding terrain. The figures are the manufacturer's own and depend heavily on the operating profile, but the direction is consistent with the physics: the further ahead the controller can see, the less energy it wastes correcting course.

Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)

Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are sensor-based functions that monitor the vehicle and its surroundings to warn the driver or intervene. On new heavy goods vehicles sold in the European Union, a defined set of these systems is mandated under the second phase of the General Safety Regulation (GSR-II); the regulatory framework and what it requires are covered on the active and passive safety page, while the underlying technologies are described here.

Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) uses a forward-facing camera, often combined with map data, to recognise speed-limit signs and compare the posted limit with the vehicle's speed, alerting the driver to any overspeed. In practice, camera-based sign recognition remains imperfect: temporary, obscured or ambiguous signs are frequently misread, so the function can warn erroneously or miss a change of limit.