Will Traditional Diesel Heavy-Duty Trucks Be Replaced? Beijng Heavy Duty’s i-Zhuimeng Hybrid Truck Says “No”!
In recent years, the freight industry has been in an unprecedented slump. Plummeting freight rates coupled with soaring oil prices have made life really tough for those in the business. Against this backdrop, LNG-fueled heavy trucks and battery electric heavy trucks are gradually gaining traction thanks to their low operating costs. Then, with more and more gas-powered and electric trucks hitting the roads, will traditional diesel trucks really be phased out? Beijing Heavy Duty has a clear answer: No. Diesel trucks not only have irreplaceable value, but also boast immense potential for further enhancement.
On January 13, 2026, the product launch conference of Beijing Heavy Duty’s i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck, themed “Revitalizing Diesel Trucks”, was grandly held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. At the event, the newly unveiled i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck, equipped with the Smart HS Intelligent Hybrid System, followed the top-level design principle of “Integrated Hardware & Software Innovation, Two-Way Subversive Upgrade”. Precisely engineered for real-world transportation scenarios, it aims to directly tackle the industry’s key pain points of high energy consumption and exorbitant operating costs plaguing traditional heavy trucks, driving users to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement through genuine technological innovation. In this article, Tijia will take you deep into the technical highlights behind this groundbreaking vehicle.
700+ HP: P2 Hybrid Delivers Strong Power & Impressive Fuel Savings
Huo Jialin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Heavy Duty, pointed out at the launch conference: “The development of heavy trucks is not a simple contest between diesel and electric power; at its core, it is a battle for scenario-specific adaptation.” This means that to meet diverse and complex transportation needs, the evolution of diesel power lies in deep scenario integration and continuous technological innovation.
Targeting the long-standing pain points of hybrid heavy trucks – such as complex structure, questionable reliability, high purchase cost and insignificant returns – Beijing Heavy Duty has carried out a systematic reconstruction of the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck, from hardware to software. The result is a pragmatic, reliable workhorse that achieves low energy consumption while ensuring high reliability and competitive cost-performance ratio.
In terms of hardware, the Beijing Heavy Duty i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck is truly “armed to the teeth”. Its core is the Cummins DHE H700 engine, custom-built exclusively for hybrid operation. Compared with conventional engines, the Cummins DHE H700 boasts a thermal efficiency of 50%, reaching the top level among engines of the same displacement. This improvement alone optimizes the vehicle’s fuel consumption by approximately 3%. In addition, the engine’s maximum torque range covers a wide speed band of 900-1400rpm, demonstrating typical characteristics of high torque at low revs. This not only ensures excellent starting and acceleration response, but also enables the vehicle to operate in the high-efficiency economic range during daily cruising. Meanwhile, this engine is also compatible with LNG clean fuel, providing users in gas-rich regions such as northwest China with an option for even lower fuel costs.
Paired with this high-efficiency engine is a 12-speed AMT transmission with a transmission efficiency of up to 99.7%. Combined with an intelligent shift system, this powertrain delivers precise, smooth and power interruption-free gear shifts, significantly enhancing ride comfort and transmission system durability while ensuring strong and continuous power output.
On this basis, the vehicle innovatively adopts a P2 hybrid architecture, integrating an electric motor between the engine and the transmission, which can provide an additional 300 horsepower. Working in tandem, the combined power output reaches 710 hp for the diesel version and an even more impressive 720 hp for the LNG version. The vehicle’s acceleration performance is improved by about 10% compared with conventional diesel trucks of the same class, making it fully capable of handling high-power extreme conditions such as heavy-load climbing and high-speed overtaking.
Moreover, the P2 motor features a simple structure and ultra-lightweight design, which does not compromise the vehicle’s transmission efficiency or curb weight. It maintains excellent lightweight performance, with a curb weight basically equivalent to that of non-hybrid models in the same class, supporting users to carry more cargo, run more trips and achieve cost reduction and efficiency gains.
The P2 motor plays a dual role in the vehicle’s drive system: a power booster and an energy regulator. When the vehicle requires high-power output, the motor provides instant assistance, preventing the engine from entering high-energy-consumption zones and keeping it operating stably in the high-efficiency range. When the vehicle decelerates or brakes, the motor switches to generator mode, efficiently recovering kinetic energy to charge the battery.
Building on this, the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck also adopts the industry’s pioneering Smart EBI 2.0 Intelligent Braking System. Through an intelligent sequential braking strategy integrating electric-hydraulic-mechanical-pneumatic technologies, it achieves an energy recovery rate of up to 80%. This not only greatly improves energy utilization efficiency, but also significantly reduces wear on the traditional mechanical braking system, extending maintenance intervals.
For hybrid vehicles, users are particularly concerned about battery durability and reliability. The i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck is equipped with a large-capacity 30kWh battery pack, adopting the fifth-generation battery cells from Microvast, which feature 20% higher energy density than the industry average and a cycle life of up to 7,000 times. More notably, Beijing Heavy Duty offers an ultra-long warranty of 5 years or 1 million kilometers for this battery, fundamentally eliminating users’ anxiety about battery performance throughout its lifecycle and replacement costs.
Most importantly, despite the addition of a hybrid system, through integrated layout, lightweight design and the application of new materials, the curb weight of Beijing Heavy Duty’s i-Zhuimeng series remains basically the same as that of traditional diesel (or LNG) heavy trucks: 8.5 tons for the diesel-electric hybrid version and only 9.4 tons for the LNG-electric hybrid version (9.9 tons when fully fueled), achieving a perfect balance between energy efficiency and load capacity.
Reliability stems from mature architecture and innovative details. The P2 hybrid architecture adopted by the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck has undergone long-term validation in the global market, featuring flexible power decoupling, high compatibility and high technological maturity. Leveraging the P2 motor, the vehicle innovatively uses a high-power motor to directly start the engine, effectively overcoming the industry’s long-standing challenge of low-temperature starting in cold regions. Meanwhile, its groundbreaking “no clutch disengagement during gear shifting” design reduces impact and wear during power engagement, fundamentally improving the reliability and operational availability of the transmission system, and lowering users’ long-term maintenance costs.
Intelligent Systems: Another Core Driver for Operational Efficiency
Intelligence is another core factor in improving operational efficiency. The i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck is equipped with the industry’s pioneering Smart ED30 Intelligent Eco-Driving System, which features a 30km predictive cruise function. The system can pre-obtain detailed road condition information such as ramps and curves ahead, and intelligently plan the optimal power output and energy recovery strategy, just like having an experienced “super driver” making real-time predictions to maximize energy utilization efficiency. In actual operations, this intelligent system works in conjunction with the hybrid powertrain, achieving a significant fuel saving of 10-15% compared with similar traditional models.
The vehicle’s intelligent integration concept is also reflected in the field of energy and thermal management. The industry’s first Smart EVP Intelligent High-Low Voltage Power Integration System eliminates the traditional low-voltage battery, not only reducing purchase costs and potential fault points, but also achieving uninterrupted power supply freedom, completely avoiding the predicament of vehicle startup failure caused by battery depletion. The Smart TMS Intelligent Full-Time Thermal Management System integrates six major thermal management functions, including driving air conditioning, parking air conditioning, and cooling and heating of the “three-electric systems” (battery, motor, electronic control). Through central intelligent control, it improves the overall system reliability by 10% and further reduces energy consumption by 5%. It is these systematic innovations throughout the vehicle that have earned the Beijing Heavy Duty i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck the “2026 China Annual Innovative Heavy Truck” award, winning high recognition from industry experts.
Cost-Effective: No Premium for Hybrid Technology
Then, for such a flagship hybrid heavy truck packed with advanced technologies, will its price tag put off truck owners? The answer is pleasantly surprising: Beijing Heavy Duty’s i-Zhuimeng achieves “same horsepower, same price”, practicing the principle of “technology for practical benefits” and ensuring users do not pay an extra premium for hybrid technology.
In addition to the obvious reduction in fuel and urea consumption, the cost-saving advantages of the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck are also reflected in many details. For example, by eliminating the traditional low-voltage battery and standard-equipping parking air conditioning, users can directly save the cost of retrofitting air conditioning and lithium batteries later. The addition of the kinetic energy recovery system greatly reduces wear on the braking system, saving hundreds of yuan in maintenance expenses each year. These thoughtful considerations and cost optimizations throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle are a tangible manifestation of how the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck elevates user value through advanced technology.
More Than Just Power Upgrade: Cab Comfort Is Top-Tier
On long-haul freight journeys, a truck is every driver’s most loyal and reliable companion. Besides long range and low fuel consumption, ride comfort is also an important criterion for evaluating a heavy truck. The Beijing Heavy Duty i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck adopts a high-roof flat-floor cab, featuring a majestic and imposing appearance with strong visual impact. Inside the cab, the spacious living space lays a solid foundation for a comfortable on-road experience.
Like other products of Beijing Heavy Duty, the interior design of the i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck follows a minimalist and technological style. The full LCD instrument panel and large touch central control screen form the core of information interaction, providing drivers with clear and comprehensive vehicle data. The addition of high-end passenger car-level configurations such as electronic parking brake and column-mounted gear shift not only greatly improves operational convenience and safety, but also creates a strong sense of modern technology.
The column-mounted gear shift is located on the right side of the steering column, easily within reach of the driver’s right hand.
The parking brake also adopts an electronic mechanism. The parking brake button is independent, with the AUTOHOLD auto hold function button next to it, which can automatically apply the brakes to reduce accidents such as vehicle sliding caused by forgetting to engage the parking brake.
Three large-capacity overhead storage cabinets are installed on the top of the cab, which can fully accommodate various daily necessities and tools carried by truck owners.
The co-driver’s seat adopts a foldable cushion design, which can be stowed when needed to free up more flexible storage or activity space inside the cab.
The spacious lower bunk provides solid support for rest. Its thick cushioning and reasonable space design help truck drivers quickly recover their energy after a tiring trip, recharging themselves for the next journey.
Conclusion
Against the backdrop of mounting operational pressures in the freight industry, Beijing Heavy Duty’s i-Zhuimeng hybrid heavy truck, adhering to the concept of “Revitalizing Diesel Trucks”, has successfully transformed hybrid technology into a more reliable, cost-effective and comfortable high-efficiency operation tool for users through the disruptive thinking of “Integrated Hardware & Software Innovation”. With its custom hybrid engine boasting 50% thermal efficiency and P2 architecture as the core, combined with the industry’s pioneering intelligent braking and energy management systems, it achieves the unity of strong power, ultra-low energy consumption and high reliability. It is a tangible solution that directly addresses the core demand of “cost reduction and efficiency improvement”, elevating user value through advanced technology.
原创文章，作者：ctinsa，如若转载，请注明出处：https://www.ctinsa.com/truew/8075
