This year, International’s SuperTruck 2 reached even further, hitting 16 MPG in flatland duty cycles across Illinois with a 65,000-lb. gross vehicle weight, according to Dean Oppermann, chief engineer of advanced truck at Navistar.
The Tesla Semi Truck is all electric which gives it the equivalent of 25-35 mpg depending upon the ratio of diesel costs with electricity. The Tesla Semi needs 27 kWh of electricity to go 16 miles. Electricity is currently about ten cents per kWh for wholesale electricity. The Tesla Semi can also travel with 82,000 lb of gross vehicle weight. This would be for a 25,000 lb tractor, 12000 pound trailer and 45000 lbs of payload. The Volvo Supertruck 2 could have a 27,000lb tractor and trailer, 2000 lbs of fuel and 36,000 lbs of payload.
Engineers used several weight-reduction strategies to reduce curb weight to 27,000 pounds for the combined truck and the trailer. A key was using a European-style 4×2 rigid chassis configuration, which uses fewer axles for the same payload. The shorter cab design is paired with a lightweight aluminum chassis and drive axle system with a single composite driveshaft.
Thirteen miles per gallon was the best the last time the SuperTruck program brought cutting-edge demonstration trucks to America’s highways in 2016. The highest mileage commercial semi trucks have about 10.5 mpg.
The SuperTruck 2 program, jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and Volvo.
The Supertruck 2 program will see some of the demonstrated technologies transfer into commercial trucks over the next few years.
We proudly present the new and most amazing #VolvoSuperTruck2! It’s not only a truck, it’s a live innovation lab that exceeds benchmarks in freight efficiency and it features our most aerodynamic tractor-trailer system ever built in North America! https://t.co/iNdftIThj5
— Volvo Trucks (@VolvoTrucks) October 10, 2023
Advanced aerodynamics took the design lead. Volvo started with a wedge-shaped cab from front to back including a raked and wraparound windshield. Volvo designed the front end around a downsized cooling package and a fully aerodynamic trailer with gap fairing, skirts and boat tail with an adjustable ride height.
A streamlined camera monitoring system replaced traditional 50-inch hood- and cab-mounted mirrors, reducing drag by more than 4%.
Volvo is the latest of the four major truck OEMs to show off its SuperTruck 2 project. Daimler Truck North America and Navistar revealed their designs earlier. Volvo will show its SuperTruck 2 in its display at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition in Austin, Texas from Oct. 14-17. Peterbilt displayed its SuperTruck 2 project at the ATA meeting last year in San Diego.
In June, 2023 Navistar revealed its International® SuperTruck II, a project in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). International SuperTruck II demonstrated 16 miles per gallon (MPG) fuel efficiency through hybridization and a 170% improvement in freight efficiency, among other advancements over the 2009 baseline vehicle, its International SuperTruck I. It also proves innovative technical approaches to weight reduction from rolling resistance technologies, aerodynamic improvements, and powertrain technologies designed to deliver premium freight efficiency to assist in reducing U.S. dependency on fossil fuels in the commercial vehicle sector.
The Daimler Supertruck 2 is below. The Daimler Freightliner SuperTruck II gets about 12 miles per gallon (MPG). This is a 12% increase in freight efficiency. The typical diesel Class 8 truck gets about 6.2 MPG.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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The maximum weight a standard diesel semi is allowed to be is 80,000 pounds.
The only reason the Tesla is allowed 82,000 pounds is because they changed the rules to allow the Tesla to have a higher gross weight because of the extra weight of the batteries.
If the Feds didn’t change the rules for the Tesla then it couldn’t carry nearly as much cargo as a traditional Semi.
All electric Semi trucks get the different weight limit. Diesel trucks are allowed to have air pollution. Particulates that hospitalization and deaths. 20% car and truck air pollution causes a lot of hospitalizations and deaths.
In California, estimated total cancer risk from all air toxics is 730 per million. Of this total, 520 per million are due to diesel particulate matter.
If PM2.5 were reduced to background levels, estimated health impacts avoided per year would be:
7,200 premature deaths
1,900 hospitalizations
5,200 emergency room visits
Similarly, if diesel particulate matter were removed from the air, estimated yearly health impacts would be:
1,400 premature deaths
200 hospitalizations
600 emergency room visits
US-wide totals would be 10-20 times more. What if the 4 million large trucks were allowed to be part of a class action lawsuit for the deaths, hospitlizations and ER visits over the last 10 years and the next 20 years or just the next 30 years?
As Brian pointed out all electric semis have the same GVWR. The rating limits are put in place for public safety. Overloaded trucks could have trouble braking, especially if their brakes have become overheated. Electric semis use regenerative braking plus the have standard brakes. They also have a lower center of gravity, which helps with handling.
The additional 2000 lbs is only a 2.5% increase in GVWR but it increases payload by 4.8%. (44000/42000=1.048). The difference is important because every bit of efficiency matters.
You can’t compare it to the Tesla Semi as they have been very secretive about what weights it actually tows when it gets its mpg.
I calculated the weight of the Tesla Semi. 82,000 max highway weight. Video pulling 12000 lbs trailer and 44,000 lbs of concrete barrier and 1000 lbs of chains and other items. Thus 25,000 lbs for the trailer. The efficiency is not mpg as it uses no oil. It is 1.7 kWH per mile.