WASHINGTON, DC – Volvo Trucks has unveiled its truck of the future, and it’s already applying many of the underlying lessons on the trucks of today.

The SuperTruck – developed through a five-year research project with the U.S. Department of Energy – boasts an astounding 12 miles per gallon (19.6 liters per 100 kilometers). After a few tweaks to the design, company engineers have even seen it exceed 13 miles per gallon (18 liters per 100 kilometers) in selected tests.

Compared to a 2009 Volvo VNL tractor, the new design is 3,200 pounds lighter, produces 40% less drag, and boosts freight efficiency by 88%. The latter measure reflects the tons of freight that are moved to the fuel that is burned. The project’s original goal was to improve the freight efficiency by 50%.

“That is a big number that we did not anticipate when we started the project,” says Pascal Amar, senior project manager, Volvo Group North America.

But rather than building a concept vehicle alone, Volvo says it focused on making changes that could come to the market in the short term. Unlike SuperTrucks from other manufacturers, this one did not rely on hybridization. Costly carbon fiber materials were shelved as well.

“We looked at the SuperTruck project as kind of a knowledge accelerator,” says Goran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America.

That means bringing new technology to the marketplace more quickly. The engine’s wave piston, turbo compounding, and common rail fuel injection systems have already been introduced in the company’s 2017 engine lineup, boosting fuel efficiency by up to 6.5% in the process. Flared chassis fairings, a redesigned bumper, and air deflectors have also been incorporated into Volvo VNL tractors now on the market, improving their fuel efficiency by up to 3.5%.

Of course, the SuperTruck also offers insights into technology to come. Cameras, for example, have replaced mirrors in the search for better air flow. One of the most prominent of the futuristic features is a Rankine waste heat recovery system, mounted above the transmission and in front of the battery box. That achieves a 50% brake thermal efficiency, which means half the energy in the fuel actually makes it to a dyno.

Inside the cab, hotel loads are powered using a solar panel incorporated into the roof line, and a pair of belt-driven alternators that captures kinetic energy as a truck rolls down the road. “We trickle charge the batteries when the truck is driving,” Amar says. Together, they offer 14 hours of power for things like air conditioning. And while the reshaped roofline and solar panel eliminates the skylight, the space inside the cab is now lit with a virtual skylight that’s powered with LEDs.

The truck’s shape itself is also decidedly futuristic. “You don’t get 40% less drag with just a few fairings,” Amar explained. The truck builds around a traditional VNL steel cab, but sits three inches taller and moves forward eight inches, ensuring a straighter flow of air up the front of the truck. A wider back wall also creates a wedge that directs air around the tractor and to the back of the trailer. Meanwhile, the trailer itself includes a boat tail, side skirts, and reshaped front end.

By mounting the air conditioner’s condenser at the back of the cab, engineers were also able to introduce a smaller grill at the front of the truck.

Other gains were realized by “right-sizing” the engine, and opting for a 425-horsepower D11. “You operate the engine where it’s efficient, in the sweet spot,” Amar says, referring to the change that can be made without sacrificing performance.

Meeting and exceeding targeted weight savings (the original goal was to be 40% lighter, but the SuperTruck weighs 45% less) was made possible in part with an aluminum frame that is 900 pounds lighter than its predecessor. The weight savings were also realized despite new technologies that were added to the truck. About 4,700 pounds were removed, but 1,500 pounds had to be added.

Still, there were some curves to address along the way, and not simply in the form of reshaped fairings.

“The interactions between the trailer and tractor were much more complex than we thought,” Amar says, referring to how that led engineers to abandon plans for a lower front bumper. Fuel cells to power the hotel loads were replaced with the system that uses solar panels and captures kinetic energy. Plans for an adjustable fifth wheel were abandoned altogether because they simply wouldn’t generate the expected returns. And while carbon fiber was researched, it was left to future projects.

“When a truck becomes this much more efficient, this much more aerodynamic, a lot of assumptions need to be revisited,” he added. The idea of capturing a truck’s kinetic energy, for example, could be at odds with systems like predictive cruise control that are also designed for fuel economy. “Do you disengage the driveline and coast, or do you charge the batteries?”

Engineers have little time to rest in the search for answers to questions like that. Volvo is among manufacturers that will also participate in the second phase of the research known as SuperTruck II, leveraging US $20 million in federal funds with the goal of doubling ton miles per gallon when compared to the 2009 baseline, and creating a powertrain with a brake thermal efficiency of 55%.

 “We will make sure that this program will be successful and we will bring more value to our end users,” Nyberg says.

Partners in the project include Michelin Americas Research Company (tires), Wabash National (trailer), Metalsa (lightweight frame), Johnson-Matthey Inc. (exhaust aftertreatment system catalysts), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (exhaust aftertreatment system testing / analysis), Peloton Technology (connected vehicle / platooning), Pennsylvania State University (connected vehicle testing), Knight Transportation (long-haul fleet), and Wegmans Food Markets (regional-haul fleet).

 “We have a lot of ideas we want to throw at SuperTruck II,” said a clearly excited Amar. “We generated so much more innovation through the project. It just keeps going.”