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MOTORINDIA
l
January 2012
Benz study on reduced fuel use,
CO
2
emissions of trucks
Wind resistance falls by 18 per
cent and the fuel consumption by
virtually five per cent: the design
study from Mercedes-Benz goes by
the working title “aero trailer” and
shows how it is possible to reduce
yet further the already low consump-
tion and thus also the CO
2
emissions
of state-of-the-art trucks such as the
new Actros.
Mercedes-Benz presented its ide-
as for the first time at the “Trailer
2011” show held during November
25-29 in Kortrijk, Belgium. In close
co-operation with the Commercial
Vehicle Design Department, they
have already succeeded in cutting
the wind resistance of the new pre-
mium truck, the Mercedes-Benz
Actros, bringing it down to 12 to 15
per cent lower than that of its pred-
ecessor, depending on the model in
question.
It is on this basis that the design-
ers have now created a trailer with
corresponding properties. Numer-
ous individual measures drastically
lower the wind resistance of the en-
tire tractor unit. A front airdam on
the trailer reduces the distance to the
tractor unit and lowers wind resist-
ance by one per cent. Meanwhile,
side trim panels contribute an eight
per cent improvement. They are
slightly drawn-in at the front and
characterised by an opening at the
rear. This steers the air in the direc-
tion of the striking rear diffuser. The
focus on trailers
diffuser has the shape of a parallelo-
gram and links up with the under-
body panelling. This improves wind
resistance by one to two per cent.
A rear end taper measuring slight-
ly more than 400 mm in length
forms a crucial part of the aerody-
namic concept. It features folding
elements to facilitate access to the
load compartment. The rear end ta-
per improves wind resistance by a
further seven per cent.
All in all the aero trailer lowers
wind resistance of the entire semi-
trailer tractor by approximately 18
per cent. In the experience of Mer-
cedes-Benz this results in a reduc-
tion in fuel consumption amounting
to almost five per cent in real-life
road traffic. In the case of an aver-
age mileage of 150,000 km a year
this means a saving of some 2,000
litres of diesel fuel and relieves the
The aero trailer encom-
passes a tremendous
amount of know-how con-
tributed by the developers
and aerodynamicists at
Mercedes-Benz.