Is Walmart's WAVE Concept Truck The Fuel-Efficient Future Of Semis?

What's going to `be on the roads with you & your Monte Carlo

By Stephen Edelstein | Green Car Reports – Mon, Mar 3, 2014 11:35 AM EST

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Heavy-duty trucks spend more time on the road than passenger vehicles, so improving their efficiency can have a major effect on emissions--and their owners' bottom lines.
That's why Walmart is getting into the truck-design business with the WAVE--Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience--concept.
With its aerodynamic cab, the WAVE certainly doesn't look like any other large truck currently on U.S. roads.
The design was achieved in part by placing the driver in the center of the cab. The steering wheel is flanked by LCD screens--in place of conventional gauges--and there is a sleeping compartment directly behind the driver's pod.
The WAVE features a range-extended electric powertrain, consisting of a Capstone micro-turbine and an electric motor.
To reduce weight, the entire truck is made of carbon fiber--including the trailer.
Walmart says this is the first example of a carbon-fiber trailer ever produced, and that its 53-foot side panels are the first single pieces of carbon fiber that large that have ever manufactured.
Like the tractor, the trailer was also designed for optimum aerodynamic efficiency. It features a convex nose, which not only reduces aerodynamic drag but has the added of benefit of increasing cargo space in the trailer.


Walmart says the carbon-fiber trailer is around 4,000 pounds lighter than a conventional one, allowing a truck to carry more freight without the need for increased power or fuel consumption.
The retail giant did not reveal any plans to produce the WAVE, and in fact it would be highly unlikely to get into the truck business.
But it's far from the only company encouraging ways to make big trucks more efficient.
The streamlined AirFlow BulletTruck achieved 13.4 mpg on a recent cross-country trip, while Peterbilt and Cummins' "SuperTruck" achieved 9.9 mpg last year.
Those numbers may not sound impressive, but they're significant improvements for vehicles that typically get 5 or 6 mpg.
They'll also be necessary in the near future: President Barack Obama has directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to draft a new set of fuel-economy rules for medium and heavy-duty trucks.
These standards will take effect in 2019 and run through 2025, picking up where the current standards--which date to 2011--leave off.

 

Yahoo! <Click

Click above link for `Vid of 2014 Top Picks
It's good to know what's out there.

I do like the Concept `Semi (I'd love to drive one)
Be careful out there on your highways of life > There's crazy/weird people like me out there with you > LOL >

 

 

 

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That semi truck is one ugly looking semi. It seems everytime any company tries to create an eco friendly vehicle they come out ugly like the prius.

 

Hi `Zach,
Thanks for your post. Did you watch the `vid...I think it would be a blast to drive...I've never driven a 18 wheeler on the roads, but I have in the parking lots of the warehouses & they are just amazing & I've grown to appreciate all the big rig drivers. It's a adventurist life style to be a over the road trucker for sure...

I like the interior of the Walmart Concept & sitting in the middle.
I'm sure the designs will change, but the MPG's will increase & hopefully keep the cost down on shipments. = saving 4 the consumers ? Maybe, maybe not >

 

I think that truck is pretty flippin' cool! Rigs in general are well behind in automotive evolution, or at least they appear to evolve slower. That Walmart truck is doing so fast catch-up!

Bonus opinions

I'm not a huge fan of that Ferrari sound. Sounds like a sportbike, which is cool enough, but it don't sound low like muscle does.

I'm still on the fence about the look of the new Mustang. I think I like it, but I'm not all in yet. I think maybe I like the last gen more. The convertible and interior look pretty good in those overhead shots.

 

That truck is ugly

 

Hi `Keane,
"Beauty is in the eyes of the Beer Holder or Bud Holder"

What one person see's as ugly, another see's as beautiful. That, I think is what makes our journey's of life so interesting. It would be a sad world to me `if everyone liked the same thing/style etc >4-Sure...

Thanks for your words/post > I respect them, and sometimes don't agree. It makes me take a break & rethink my options/opinions on certain subjects.

Peace/Out >Don't 4-get to EnJoy >Now >What `if ?