Walmart, the American retail giant, has developed a prototype extended-range electric truck. Thanks to its aerodynamic shape and carbon structure, it promises to drastically cut fuel consumption and emissions.
Reducing pollutant emissions is an unavoidable objective for manufacturers of both cars and trucks. Freight transport is, however, one of the sectors in which technological innovation is advancing most slowly, given that hybrid propulsion is still at an experimental stage and electric mobility proposals can be counted on the fingers of one hand. While light delivery, especially within urban centres, is beginning to rely on battery-powered drivetrains, the same cannot be said for large trucks, which are driven by largely conventional powertrains whose main concessions to ecology consist of running on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) or biodiesel. Now, however, thanks to the impetus of American retail giant Walmart, heavy vehicles too could be on the verge of a decisive sustainable breakthrough.
It is called the Wave concept, and it is the cab of the future. Developed by retail giant Walmart, keen to accelerate the technological progress of articulated lorries — the backbone of the distribution business — the American prototype is equipped with a hybrid platform combining an electric motor with a microturbine acting as a generator. The turbine, specifically, can be fuelled by diesel, natural gas or biodiesel, thereby ensuring maximum flexibility and sustainability. This technical solution calls to mind the project of Chinese start-up Techrules, also based on the interaction between a low-emission powertrain and an aircraft engine, albeit with applications limited to passenger transport.
The Wave Concept — which stands for Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience — therefore relies on a hybrid system, or more precisely an extended-range electric one, with the combustion engine, as mentioned, dedicated exclusively to recharging the batteries and featuring an aerospace-derived microturbine that drives the generator responsible for charging the cells that power the electric motors. The innovative powertrain is positioned beneath the cab, while the goal of reducing fuel consumption — and therefore pollutant emissions — is also served by the aerodynamic shape of the cab, which offers 20 per cent less aerodynamic drag than conventional trucks, and the extensive use of carbon fibre to keep the vehicle's weight down. Specifically, the trailer panels reach a maximum length of 16 metres — a record — and allow the vehicle to be lightened by over 1,800 kg compared to the standard.
The lightness works in favour of both reduced fuel consumption and load capacity, since keeping the vehicle's weight down lowers the tare weight and increases the useful payload. The driver sits in a central position and can rest on a fold-out settee, while the main information and functions can be managed via a dual touchscreen display. The Wave Concept is for now a design and technology study, pending the involvement of a specialist manufacturer to partner with Walmart with a view to industrialising the project. Were it to be developed to the point of entering production, the hybrid truck — or more precisely extended-range electric vehicle — would make it possible to exponentially reduce the harmful emissions associated with road freight transport. This is a goal that, like it or not, the major American retail sector will soon have to address, given that the Obama administration has explicitly requested that the EPA (the American Environmental Protection Agency) define new, more restrictive parameters for heavy vehicle fuel consumption, set to come into force from 2019.