Automotive

Remarkable Kenworth SuperTruck 2 cuts fuel bills by 50%

View 8 Images
Kenworth has unveiled its SuperTruck 2, demonstrating remarkable fuel efficiency with diesel
Kenworth
Kenworth has unveiled its SuperTruck 2, demonstrating remarkable fuel efficiency with diesel
Kenworth
Neons are optional...
Kenworth
Central cockpit with huge rear-view camera screens either side
Kenworth
Slippery shape reduces aero drag
Kenworth
Mild hybrid engine includes the PACCAR MX-11 engine and a 48-volt electric motor – and look at those completely-enclosed wheels, all 10 of them
Kenworth
The SuperTruck 2 improves fuel efficiency to 12 mpg, as opposed to the ~6-mpg truckers are regularly getting out of the Kenworth T660
Kenworth
Rear view mirrors are reduced to a slim aero fin shape with cameras embedded, further cutting drag
Kenworth
A lightweight, aerodynamic design with a high-efficiency hybrid powertrain and low-rolling-resistance tires
Kenworth
View gallery - 8 images

Kenworth has unveiled a sleek-looking SuperTruck 2 at the Advanced Clean Transport expo in Las Vegas, attempting to squeeze the maximum possible efficiency out of a diesel powertrain. It works, too, beating the company's most efficient truck by 100%.

It's the result of a six-year project with the US Department of Energy (DoE), in which truck makers have been challenged to improve freight efficiency without dropping diesel as the main energy carrier.

"The goal was a 100% freight efficiency improvement over our 2009 Kenworth T660, which at the time was arguably the most fuel-efficient truck in the industry," says Kenworth GM Jim Walenczak in a press release. "We surpassed the performance of that model to improve efficiency by up to 136%. This was realized through a combination of improving fuel efficiency up to 12.8 mpg (18.4 L/100km) while reducing our combination weight by more than 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg). The result was the ability to haul more payload with an ultra-fuel-efficient tractor-trailer combination."

So what are the key factors here? Well, the aerodynamics have obviously been vastly improved, with a bullet-train-esque design featuring a central cockpit with a panoramic view, a narrowed nose and sloped forehead, as well as low skirts, and wheels fully enclosed within the bodywork. The typical beefy side mirrors have been switched for slim, slippery camera stalks with night vision, and there's variable-height suspension allowing this hauler to get super-low on a nice, smooth highway. The combined result is an astonishing 48% reduction in drag.

Materials and design considerations, along with lightweight, low-rolling-resistance tires, allowed the design team to shave an enormous amount of weight. The SuperTruck 2 tractor and trailer together weigh in at 26,100 lb (11,839 kg), representing an enormous 7,100-lb (3,221-kg) weight saving.

The powertrain is also extraordinary. It combines a PACCAR MX-11-based diesel engine and TX-12 auto transmission with a 48-volt electric generator to create a mild hybrid system that charges its lithium batteries through regenerative braking. This electric system powers the fans, the steering, the coolant, the heating and air-con systems, which would otherwise draw mechanical power straight off the engine – up to 80 horsepower for the engine fans alone, says Kenworth.

The SuperTruck 2 improves fuel efficiency to 12 mpg, as opposed to the ~6-mpg truckers are regularly getting out of the Kenworth T660
Kenworth

In bench testing, this powertrain notched a claimed record with a 55.7% engine efficiency rating.

"Today’s modern diesel engine demonstrates around 47% efficiency," says PACCAR senior engineering manager for advanced technology, Maarten Meijer. "Reaching 55.7% was a major step forward and could only be done by applying new technologies that had not been explored until today. To put that efficiency number into perspective, if this engine were to go into production, it would lead to a 10% fuel efficiency improvement. That’s an astonishing number."

... If it were to go into production.

Which it won't.

"We wanted to push this beyond just a demonstrator truck," says design director Jonathan Duncan. "We wanted to show something dynamic and what the future of Kenworth might look like."

Central cockpit with huge rear-view camera screens either side
Kenworth

"There are major challenges ahead as we continue to advance vehicle performance, all while keeping in mind the goal to be a carbon neutral society by 2050," adds chief engineer Keith Adams. "This will require tremendous technology changes in the trucking industry and partnering with the DOE on the SuperTruck 2 program was a tremendous opportunity to consider what will be possible as we look toward the future."

The SuperTruck 2 was designed to be powertrain-agnostic, capable of working with battery-electric or hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered drive systems, both of which Kenworth is working on. Mind you, its fuel cell truck is currently a 10-unit pilot program in partnership with Toyota, and its biggest electric vehicle is the T680E, a class-8 cab holding 396 kWh and promising just 150 miles (241 km) of range. That's a ways off the 500-mile (805-km) Tesla Semi.

Mild hybrid engine includes the PACCAR MX-11 engine and a 48-volt electric motor – and look at those completely-enclosed wheels, all 10 of them
Kenworth

Still, this DoE project gave Kenworth the time and funding to go back to a clean sheet and design an extreme-efficiency truck from the ground up, and there will certainly be a market appetite for any commercial designs that come out of this. Fuel is no small line item in trucking and logistics, and anything that offers the chance to cut that cost down will find plenty of interest.

Source: Kenworth

View gallery - 8 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
20 comments
Trylon
Something else that can cut fuel bills without any new technology would be fixing the gear ratios on truck transmissions so top gear at max RPM would get you no faster than 65 MPH. Excessive speed causes much higher fuel consumption since aerodynamic drag increases with the square of the velocity. Dropping from 75 to 65 could increase MPG by 25% or more.
geemy
the bottleneck is the trailer, not the semi. 18 covered wheels and teardrop shaped trailer 😂
MrApple
Great warm weather unit. Appears it will not work during the snowy seasons in the US nor Canada due to snow buildup under the front wheels
guzmanchinky
Why is this not going into production? Seems like too big of an improvement to ignore...
Treon Verdery
A way to heighten the aerodynamic efficiency of the rectangular hauled trailer is to have drones fly to the 6 corners of the trailer and electromagnetically attach to the trailer/container surface, the drones have the attribute of being highly curved and aerodynamic efficiency facilitating. If the newly aerodynamically curved surface of the trailer/container is 2-4 multiples more aerodynamic than a 90 degree angle shape then the efficiency of the truck and trailer are greatly heightened.
Treon Verdery
autonomously driving tractor-trailer trucks, with greatly reduced traffic accident occurence could have 98MPH velocity average, which then causes 149% greater amount of deliveries per 8 hours, and, noting continuous 24 hour driving capacity, 4.49 times more delivered material per 24 hours. that greatly heightens the amount of trucking company funds earned per 24 hours per truck and trailer, which provides a $ incentive to develop and produce and vend the autonomously 24 hour driving trucks.
McDesign
Maybe use those big ol' fans and new side skirts to evacuate underneath for super handling! From the Chaparral 2J to the McMurtry Spéirling - why not a semi that can pull 2-32 lateral g?
WONKY KLERKY
With note to the proclamation of the piece:
'Materials and design considerations, along with lightweight, low-rolling-resistance tires, allowed the design team to shave an enormous amount of weight'

I note with apprehension comment on 2 aspects alone:
Overall:
0) All weight savings will inevitably have an effect on the robustness and consequential longevity of the affected part and the artic' overall.
Best run these rigs on known well surfaced roads.
+
1: ref Saving in Tyre Weights:
Nah. This will have effects various on the suspension.
'Twitchy-ness' in steering especially is predicted (especially with the reduced track to the front wheels).
On those front tyres. just how is a roadside replacement to be done?
(Top tips: I can think of at least 2 methods to ease things but you never sent me my Postal Order from me last bright ideas submission)

BIG X & Good Luck.
michael_dowling
Diesel exhaust is bad medicine,as it produces particulates that get deep into your lungs. Getting rid of diesel engines should be job one.
MQ
Attempting to achieve, 100% freight efficiency may be a test for numerical literacy...

Making a 57% EFFICIENT engine improve combustion by 100% is miraculous...

(Just as the vernacular "200% less", is testing for IQ below 50..)