14 DAY TRIAL // AirFlow Truck Company would just love it if the transportation industry in the United States would switch to using its odd-looking aerodynamic rig instead of traditional semi-trucks, and not just because this would help it make quite a profit.
On the contrary, the company says that, by embracing the so-called BulletTruck design, the country's transportation sector could save roughly 7.5 billion gallons of fuel on a yearly basis.
Furthermore, it would slash yearly exhaust emissions by about 21 million, and thus greatly improve on its ecological footprint. Clean Technica reports that, unlike hybrid vehicles that rely on state-of-the-art technologies to reduce fuel consumption and, consequently, harmful emissions, the BulletTruck design is made surprisingly environmentally friendly by its shape and a few other improvements.
Apparently, the regular big rigs that are presently used to carry goods across the United States use about 50% of their power just to push air out of their way and move forward.
Thanks to its aerodynamic and, truth be told, fairly alien-like shape, the BullerTruck has no trouble moving up and down roads.
“In addition to a massive tapered nose and tire-hiding curtains, the BulletTruck uses LCD screens to replace electricity-hungry manual gauges.”
“A hybrid air conditioning and power steering unit reduces parasitic load, and video cameras replace the massive mirrors all semi-trucks currently require,” the same source details.
When made to travel from Connecticut to California while carrying a load of 65,000 pounds (29,483 kilograms), the rig averaged a fuel consumption of 13.4 miles (21.56 kilometers) per gallon. By comparison, run-off-the-mill trucks typically average about 6 miles (9.65 kilometers) per gallon.
Hence, it can be argued that the rig's design more than doubles fuel economy.
As Clean Technica notes, “Just a few small changes can save a lot of fuel, as it turns out, and the BulletTruck has a lot to teach the trucking industry.”