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Automotive

Volvo claims World Hybrid Truck speed record

By Mike Hanlon
May 07, 2012
Volvo claims World Hybrid Truck speed record
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.Mean Green
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.Mean Green
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Boije Ovebrink ‘Mean Green’s driver and owner
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Boije Ovebrink ‘Mean Green’s driver and owner
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.
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Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.
The Volvo D16 engine runs a modified version of Volvo’s automated I-Shift gearbox
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The Volvo D16 engine runs a modified version of Volvo’s automated I-Shift gearbox
Though ‘Mean Green’s aerodynamic body design bears little resemblance to a normal Volvo freight-carrying tractor unit, the truck is comprised almost entirely of production components from the Volvo vehicle family
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Though ‘Mean Green’s aerodynamic body design bears little resemblance to a normal Volvo freight-carrying tractor unit, the truck is comprised almost entirely of production components from the Volvo vehicle family
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.
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Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.Mean Green
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Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.Mean Green
View gallery - 6 images

You will see a lot of stories around the web this week indicating that Volvo’s "Mean Green" truck has established a new world speed record. Volvo neglected to mention in the press release that it was the world hybrid truck speed record it had attained and hundreds of sites regurgitated the release verbatim without thought. The world land speed record is 1227 km/h - the Volvo ran about 1000 km/h slower than that.

While the Mean Green's 2100 bhp D16 diesel/electric powertrain generated an impressive (for a truck with all that frontal area and the cD of a housebrick) 236.577 km/h (147.002 mph) flying kilometer, that's a long way short of the Thrust SSC's supersonic 1227.986 km/h absolute land speed record, the wheel-driven record of 737.794 km/h, the diesel-powered record of 563.995 km/h, the electric-powered record of 495.140 km/h and indeed, not much faster than the wind-powered land speed record of 202.9 km/h set by Ecotricity Greenbird in 2009.

What is impressive is that Mean Green runs the same Volvo hybrid drive system being used by hundreds of Volvo buses throughout the world, including London's double-decker buses.

The truck also took the Standing Kilometer record for trucks at an average 153.252 km/h (95.245 mph), an enormous feat of acceleration for the motor which produces 6,780 Nm (5,000 lb-ft.) torque, of which, 1,200 Nm (885 lb-ft.) of torque comes from the electric motor. The electric motor is responsible for 200 bhp of the 2100 bhp total.

Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.
Volvo’s hybrid truck, ‘Mean Green’, established new world speed records on April 27th at Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA.

The speed record attempts were sanctioned by the United States Auto Club, an extension of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motoring’s international governing body. The new world records are subject to FIA recognition, which will occur in about 30 to 60 days.

Mean Green established its first records of 218.780 km/h (135.943 mph) in the flying kilometer in June 2011 at Hultsfred Airport in Sweden.

Though Mean Green’s aerodynamic body design bears little resemblance to a normal Volvo freight-carrying tractor unit, the truck is comprised almost entirely of production components from the Volvo vehicle family, including a Volvo VN cab and frame.

Volvo Trucks - Mean Green Hybrid Truck World Speed Record

View gallery - 6 images

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2 comments
Mike Hanlon
Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.

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2 comments
solutions4circuits
You could put a flashlight battery and slot car motor coupled with a rubber band to the drivetrain and claim a hybrid record with the bigass (technical term, not profanity) diesel engine like this truck has.
I'd also note the author's dismissive "Cd like a brick" is showing significant amounts of ignorance. Aero drag is the major factor at those speeds, not rolling resistance. The lowering of the truck, the fairing of the gas tanks complete with low drag NACA air intake, and the longitudinal winglike shape all contribute to lowering drag SIGNIFICANTLY over a stock truck body - a real journalist would have asked Volvo what the Cd was, instead of falling for their PR BS with "like a brick".
One more thing...there's nothing green about this truck, fueling its 2100HP engine, other than its paint color
Conny Söre
Well... The rear of the truck is actually quite brick-ish and when considering drag you should not ignore the backdraft (or whatever the techical term is) produced by that steep rear. The turbulence behind that thing at 230 Km/h would be significant and require a lot of power to overcome. Otherwise I agree. There is not much green about this. The only thing that can move that fast and still be environmentaly friendly is a glider (sailplane).