Photos: Volvo introduces SuperTruck concept, averages over 12 mpg

Volvo Trucks North America unveiled Tuesday in Washington D.C. the fruits of its SuperTruck program, capping a five year development project that ultimately eclipsed its freight efficiency benchmarks by more than 75 percent.

Through a combination of advanced aerodynamics, vehicle and powertrain technologies, the Swedish-engineered SuperTruck achieved a freight efficiency improvement of 88 percent – exceeding the 50 percent improvement goal set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SuperTruck program.

The tractor-trailer concept combination vehicle also boosted fuel efficiency by 70 percent, exceeding its 12 miles per gallon target. Some test runs showed more than 13 miles per gallon – in road tests, and powertrain brake thermal efficiency reached 50 percent.

While SuperTruck itself will likely never reach production, many of the technologies implemented during the project are already on the highway.

For more on Volvo’s SuperTruck, see Overdrive sister site CCJ‘s in-depth story at this link.