Everybody these days, especially in the car world, is focusing on concept cars. Cars that will maybe one day come into production and be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly than their predecessors. But have you ever heard of a concept semi-truck? I was watching the Discovery Channel one afternoon and a unique show came on. It showcased a famous car designer named Luigi Colani who has built many conceptual vehicles in his time, one being the future semi-truck. The semi-truck amazed me and I could not help myself from keeping my eyes fixed on the screen
. The overall design was the same, where you had a cabin, where the driver operated the truck, and then the trailer that was connected to the cabin. But both parts of the truck had their own unique styling to them. Starting with the cabin, the windshield had a giant circle with three wiper blades that seemed to spin in a circle instead of swiping side to side like in most cars and trucks. The cabin seemed to hang over its support that was connecting it to the chassis. Now moving onto the trailer, which looked like a farm silo tipped on its side and lay on a flatbed truck, it had smooth lines and you knew it was made for aerodynamics. But what about the numbers you may ask? Colani’s first version of the future semi-truck reduced fuel consumption by 25 percent. Colani discovered that when a semi-truck reaches 50 mph or more the drag effect starts to play a role i
n fuel efficiency. With the addition of the smooth and curvy lines, the new version of the concept semi-truck, designed in 2007, reduced fuel consumption by 50 percent and this was purely by aerodynamics, not engine modifications. If these trucks are so great then why aren’t they on the road already? All I can say is cost, cost, and cost. The first versions of Colani’s semi-trucks were in upwards of $1 million. He later reduced many of the designs to about $100,000 but that is still an unmarketable price. Without a marketable price, truck companies will not even think about purchasing these streamlining future trucks to use as their main source of transporting their customer’s goods. One day we will see Colani’s vision of more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly semi-trucks drive past us and think nothing of it as we watch our favorite movie on our long awaited road-trip. It is good to know that people are expanding the green initiative to other subjects and not just cars because after all they’re not the only ones that use gas around here.
. The overall design was the same, where you had a cabin, where the driver operated the truck, and then the trailer that was connected to the cabin. But both parts of the truck had their own unique styling to them. Starting with the cabin, the windshield had a giant circle with three wiper blades that seemed to spin in a circle instead of swiping side to side like in most cars and trucks. The cabin seemed to hang over its support that was connecting it to the chassis. Now moving onto the trailer, which looked like a farm silo tipped on its side and lay on a flatbed truck, it had smooth lines and you knew it was made for aerodynamics. But what about the numbers you may ask? Colani’s first version of the future semi-truck reduced fuel consumption by 25 percent. Colani discovered that when a semi-truck reaches 50 mph or more the drag effect starts to play a role i
n fuel efficiency. With the addition of the smooth and curvy lines, the new version of the concept semi-truck, designed in 2007, reduced fuel consumption by 50 percent and this was purely by aerodynamics, not engine modifications. If these trucks are so great then why aren’t they on the road already? All I can say is cost, cost, and cost. The first versions of Colani’s semi-trucks were in upwards of $1 million. He later reduced many of the designs to about $100,000 but that is still an unmarketable price. Without a marketable price, truck companies will not even think about purchasing these streamlining future trucks to use as their main source of transporting their customer’s goods. One day we will see Colani’s vision of more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly semi-trucks drive past us and think nothing of it as we watch our favorite movie on our long awaited road-trip. It is good to know that people are expanding the green initiative to other subjects and not just cars because after all they’re not the only ones that use gas around here.
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