“With platooning, the truck – which is electronically coupled with the lead vehicle – consumes up to 15% less fuel, thanks to safe slipstreaming,” insists Continental chief executive Dr Elmar Degenhart.
“Even the lead vehicle drives up to 3% more efficiently on account of the reduction in air turbulence,” adds Dr Michael Ruf, head of Continental’s commercial vehicles and aftermarket business unit.
Continental is focusing on an interoperable internet platform, in which trucks from various manufacturers and fleet operators form an ‘electronic convoy’.
The firm says it sees six key phases to achieving adoption: development of sensor technology; likewise swarm connectivity; delivering human-machine dialogue technology; defining the system architecture; proving reliability; and facilitating acceptance of the new technology.
Essentially, braking and sensor data are transmitted wirelessly from the lead vehicle to the following vehicles, allowing inter-truck gaps initially to reduce from 50 meters to just 15 meters at speeds up to 80kph.
Developers expect that to reduce further, potentially down to 10 meters, positively impacting not only fuel consumption but also congestion.
As the first step, Continental’s initial technology aims to enable a lead truck followed by one or two additional trucks using the same ‘electronic towbar’.
“An opportunity like this, which can bring about huge fuel and, consequently, CO2 savings must not go to waste,” states Dr Ruf.
“We are currently doing our homework with regard to the development of systems for production and striving for swift clarification of the framework conditions,” he continues.
“The legal framework is the final hurdle before the introduction of platooning."
Ruf also makes the point that, if just 50% of a truck’s annual mileage – say 150,000km – was driven in convoy, it would be able to save 4,000 liters of diesel.
So one convoy might reduce annual fuel costs by more than €9,000 per year and enable a fleet operator to reduce its CO2 emissions by 24kg per hour assuming a convoy of three trucks.