[Shepherd777]

Originally Posted by hardhatz

Just my humble opinion....

Congratulations on some very nice work!
It is particularly impressive that someone who doesn't care to drive them would put all this effort into such a huge undertaking.

Some thoughts:

1. Big rig fuel mileage strategies that rely too much on hypermiling tactics are only entirely relevant when time stands still and the world is flat. In real life in the business of trucking, there are many aggravating factors. For example, one MPH less speed adds an hour to a coast-to-coast run. So, if you arrive at the other coast on Friday night after the receiver closes for the weekend, you have just shot yourself in the foot. If-by driving 65-you arrive Friday morning, and reload back out the same day, you could be 2000 revenue-earning miles away by Monday morning. This is not an isolated example. I drive, it happens all the time.
Focus on the technology. Getting 14 MPG under ideal and atypical conditions is interesting, but there would be a lot more credibility if you also included real-world numbers.

2. Congratulations on running a 13-speed! The industry has really drank the Kool-aid on the Big 9 & 10-speed Lie. It's a hard cold fact that the lowest BSFC on an engine is only about 150-200 RPM wide.
However, most 13-speeds are RTO. (I'm assuming yours is as well) RTOxxx13's are overdriven in 13th, and trucks are usually geared to cruise there. 13th gear loads torque onto six gears, 2 countershafts, and several bearings. Only in 12th does the torque path run from input to drive yoke uninterrupted. RTOs should be geared to cruise in 12th. Don't feel bad, about 99% of rigs were built wrong, and the average new-truck sales guy is a blithering idiot.

3. The electric drive idea will not be efficient. The driven motor is most efficient only at a certain RPM. Locomotives are built with different gear ratios, based on expected use. They are significantly disadvantaged anywhere outside that ideal speed. To be more specific, the Diesel/generator must be operated at full capacity even though the driven motor may be turning at a small fraction of its efficient RPM. So, your engine-to-wheel RPM ratio goes completely screwy, and you are under full power. Once again, if the world was flat.....
If you are in love with electricity, use it to replace the hydraulic in the power-steering.

4. Consider radical redesign of suspension, as all vertical motion/vibration caused by road irregularities devours forward energy. Independent maybe, with bus-type IFS, and DeDion-type rear?...

5. How about an air-bagged front end to regulate front body-to-road gap?

6. Axle stub-mounted non-rotational front wheel fairings.

7. Charm the rolling-stock folks into building a "1 1/2-plex" low-profile front tire/rim system. (halfway between a single and a duplex) About 8000 lb capacity.

8. Centrifugal engine oil filter to keep oil free of abrasive particles.

9. A single-screw with tag axle does not provide the integrity needed in any but ideal situations, and I consider it cheating. Keep it honest.

I'll answer your first 3 questions.

1. Big rig fuel mileage strategies that rely too much on hypermiling tactics are only entirely relevant when time stands still and the world is flat. Agreed In real life in the business of trucking, there are many aggravating factors. Agreed For example, one MPH less speed adds an hour to a coast-to-coast run. So, if you arrive at the other coast on Friday night after the receiver closes for the weekend, you have just shot yourself in the foot. If-by driving 65-you arrive Friday morning, and reload back out the same day, you could be 2000 revenue-earning miles away by Monday morning. This is not an isolated example. I drive, it happens all the time. Focus on the technology. Getting 14 MPG under ideal and atypical conditions is interesting, but there would be a lot more credibility if you also included real-world numbers.

I have driven Class 8 vehicles over 750,000 miles hauling freight, mostly at 55 mph, so I know how the industry works. While driving last year for 8 months part-time, we only drove 55 mph, except downhill, where the fuel was free. Every day, all day, the same truckers would pass me doing anywhere from 60-80 mph. One could pick out certain rigs during the day. A weird flatbed load, a unique trailer or cab, etc. They would pass me after breakfast. They would pass me after lunch. They would pass me twice in the afternoon, after dinner, and twice at night. And I would see those same trucks in the truck stop at night sleeping along side me. So your one MPH less speed argument is not valid to me. If they spent less time bullshipping at the truck stops, or trying to plug every waitress at every truck stop, then driving 60-80 mph to make-up for lost time, they would be a lot more efficient. And the world would be better off. We never missed a delivery or a pick-up time appointment driving 55 mph during that 8003 mile trip. Or during any other trip last year. And I was the only one driving. My dog does have a license, but it is not a CDL.




Here are some real-world numbers. The 13.4 MPG we got last year was an average of exactly 8003 miles, hauling real freight. We loaded in Farmington, CT and delivered in Tracy, CA. The rest of the trip consisted of pickups and stops in Hillsboro, OR, Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, Memphis, TN, Southaven, MS, Louisville, KY, and then back to Cromwell, CT and home. We hauled automatic aluminum sliding doors, Halloween supplies, Ingersol-Rand air compressor parts, and furniture for a new Sunoco gas station. Real freight on all of these trips and had only a 3% deadhead (empty trailer) figure. I drove on every road every other truck drove on. I backed into every small ally, congested convoluted loading dock area, and stopped at every weigh station and DOT inspection that everyone else did. When Freightliner, Kenworth, of Volvo does long-distance fuel tests, they put weights or other such stuff in the trailer. They do not deliver and pick-up freight, unlike what we did. The BulletTruck would do 17.5-18 mpg and 10% engine load with a loaded trailer on level ground. Climbing up a mountain, we would get 2-3 mpg, like everyone else. So again, we averaged 13.4 mpg for that 8003 miles. Those are some real-world numbers for you.

2. Congratulations on running a 13-speed! The industry has really drank the Kool-aid on the Big 9 & 10-speed Lie. It's a hard cold fact that the lowest BSFC on an engine is only about 150-200 RPM wide.
However, most 13-speeds are RTO. (I'm assuming yours is as well) RTOxxx13's are overdriven in 13th, and trucks are usually geared to cruise there. 13th gear loads torque onto six gears, 2 countershafts, and several bearings. Only in 12th does the torque path run from input to drive yoke uninterrupted. RTOs should be geared to cruise in 12th. Don't feel bad, about 99% of rigs were built wrong, and the average new-truck sales guy is a blithering idiot.

Yes, I love the 13 speed for the very minimal rpm bandwidth spread. With that 13 speed, I was able to keep engine rpm between 1100-1250 rpm all day long. Again, except downhill.

3. The electric drive idea will not be efficient. The driven motor is most efficient only at a certain RPM. Locomotives are built with different gear ratios, based on expected use. They are significantly disadvantaged anywhere outside that ideal speed. To be more specific, the Diesel/generator must be operated at full capacity even though the driven motor may be turning at a small fraction of its efficient RPM. So, your engine-to-wheel RPM ratio goes completely screwy, and you are under full power. Once again, if the world was flat.....
If you are in love with electricity, use it to replace the hydraulic in the power-steering.

I disagree. Our Hybrid Electric drive system will be amazingly efficient. The diesel engine we will be using will have only 2 or 3 pre-set rpm modes. Idle, Peak Torque, and possibly a slightly higher energy storage charging rpm. We will be using batteries and/or super-capacitors for energy storage. So a lot of the time, the ICE won't even be running. I have just recently validated this design with one of the foremost diesel engine guru's in the world when he called me two days ago, and we spoke on the phone for an hour. I cannot say who this person is at this time. But he has verbally agreed to be on our development team. And yes, we will be using high-voltage electric power-steering, as well as air conditioning and compressed air, in the new truck.