Dive Brief:
- Kenworth unveiled its SuperTruck 2 last week at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Las Vegas, showcasing a one-of-a-kind demonstrator vehicle that challenged traditional design norms.
- The truck, developed over six years in connection with a Department of Energy program, can reach up to 12.8 mpg, has a combination weight reduction of over 7,000 pounds, and includes regenerative braking to power electric fans, steering and coolant, per a news release.
- “SuperTruck 2 provided us with the opportunity to investigate new technologies in an early stage. We learned what worked and what didn’t,” Jim Walenczak, general manager of Kenworth and Paccar VP, said in a news release. “As a result, we are able to commercialize new technologies much quicker than we would have otherwise.”
Dive Insight:
SuperTruck developments among leading OEMs show multiple strategies to reach similar performance, according to the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.
“The goal was a 100% freight efficiency improvement over our 2009 Kenworth T660,” Walenczak said of the SuperTruck 2. “We surpassed the performance of that model to improve efficiency by up to 136%.”
Despite the differences, NACFE noted that “from a physics standpoint, there are some priority technologies that achieve greater gains” that include aerodynamic and rolling resistance improvements as well as weight and parasitic loss reduction.
“We started with an ideal aerodynamic shape when we started the design of SuperTruck 2,” Joe Adams, Kenworth’s chief engineer, said in the news release.
The company said it started the design from scratch rather than basing it on enhancing an existing truck.
“At the start of the project, we asked ourselves, ‘What does the next generation vehicle for long haul transportation look like?’ Adams said. “What we produced pushes the limits in reducing aerodynamic drag while it also incorporates a new powertrain.”
Trailers typically generate half of the drag that contributes to overall energy loss, but Kenworth designed the tractor-trailer as a single system, Kenworth aerodynamics engineer Scott Temple said in a promotional video.
The tractor also eliminates mirrors, which add to drag by using smaller extensions and cameras, he noted.
“We could design everything as a system together,” Temple said, “and we knew how the air would flow from the very front of the bumper to where the trailer ends.”
The improvements are meant to be a test bed for future technologies, Paccar senior project engineer Ryan Monahan also noted in the video.
Paccar subsidiary Peterbilt unveiled its SuperTruck 2 in 2022, and the parent company launched its SuperTruck 3 program in 2021.
