New truck technology to result in better mileage, lower carbon dioxide emissions

Japan’s New Energy and Industry Technology Development Organization said it has developed a system to enable trucks to automatically drive in a procession with a constant safe distance between them, resulting in lower fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the system, trucks are installed with cameras and radar; their driving speed and traveling direction are controlled by computer. While people are in the trucks for monitoring purposes, they do not handle the steering wheels.
During the media demonstration at a driving course in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, three large trucks and a smaller truck automatically drove at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour with a four-meter distance between the vehicles.
Tandem driving reduces air resistance, improving mileage, which is also improved by the vehicles maintaining a steady distance apart, thus reducing accelerator usage.
According to the demonstration, energy saving capacity will increase by more than 15%, compared with the four trucks driving separately.
The organization plans to introduce the system on expressways in the future, it said. (February 25, 2013)