New exterior design options for improving the efficiency of fully autonomous heavy duty vehicles

Fully autonomous vehicles are primarily intended to improve the road safety and lower the energy consumption. In the field of heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) for long distance transport there is also the big problem of an increasing driver shortage. Beside solving these issues, the associated elimination of the driver’s cab in fully automated trucks with SAE Level 4 or 5 also opens up fundamentally new possibilities in vehicle design for conceiving the tractor unit and semitrailer. In place of the driver’s cab, aerodynamic superstructures can be provided to improve the overall aerodynamics of the tractor unit. Alternatively, it would be possible to increase the cargo space over the tractor unit or to shorten the overall length of the semitrailer truck. However, this is currently severely restricted in Germany by existing EU regulations for heavy-duty trucks. Another measure would be to reduce the vehicle’s frontal area by lowering the trailer compartment height on empty runs. This reduces fuel consumption by up to 4.6% in the simulated day cycle reference scenario based on the FIGE cycle.