Volvo concept truck records 30% fuel saving

Reductions in fuel consumption of over 30 per cent have been achieved by a Volvo concept truck, developed in a five-year project aimed at producing a more energy-efficient vehicle.

A key contributor to the fuel saving has been enhanced aerodynamics: drag has been reduced by 40 per cent by modifications to the tractor unit and trailer.

The research project is a bilateral joint-venture between Sweden and the USA involving support from the Swedish Energy Agency and the US Department of Energy. The American SuperTruck project aims to increase transport efficiency for long-haul operations on the North American market.

The base truck is a Volvo FH-420 cabover tractor unit with a Euro-6 Volvo D13 engine.

A major drag reduction has come from substituting CCTV systems for conventional external mirrors. The technology to do this is available today, but the use of cameras instead of mirrors is currently forbidden by European law.

Other aerodynamic enhancements include chassis side-skirts enclosing the tractor unit’s rear wheels and all the trailer wheels, ‘boat-tail’ aerodynamic fairing on the rear of the trailer, optimised air-flow through the tractor’s engine cooling system, and changes to the front of the tractor, including the wheel arches and cab steps.

Other changes include newly-developed low rolling-resistance tyres, an improved driveline, and a two-tonne reduction in the trailer’s unladen weight.

The combination was tested on Swedish roads in Autumn 2015. Volvo said that work on the concept truck had been in progress since 2011, with the aim of improving long-haul transport efficiency by 50 per cent.

Since the concept vehicle is part of a research project it will not be available on the market. However, some of its aerodynamic features have already been implemented on Volvo Trucks’ series-produced vehicles and more of its solutions may be fitted in the future, the manufacturer said.