Volvo futuristic Concept Truck 2020

The Swedish trucking giant has come up with the Concept Truck 2020 a rendering of what it expects drivers will use to haul freight in 10 years from now.

Volvo uses the concept truck to predict some elements of future of truck technology, including an autopilot feature that would allow drivers to relax for long periods of the trip.

The interior of the concept truck is spacious with a clean and crisp, uncluttered, design. Traditional rows of dials and gauges have been replaced by a single digital instrument panel that glows blue.

"We have replaced the traditional dashboard with a thin film panel on which information is tailored to suit the driver," says Volvo Truck design director, Rikard Orell. "The panel is operated like a touchpad, just like an iPhone. We have saved a lot of space that way." This system would also allow for a level of customisation.

Volvo has drawn on Swedish design themes for the driver's seat, which looks like it belongs in an Ikea catalogue.  It says the seat, which has a thin ventilated mesh backrest, is "more like a modern office chair than a traditional driver's seat." There is no word on how comfortable it would prove on a long run along the Hume Highway. It appears there is no passenger seat although there is a futon sofa behind the driver's seat which folds out into a wide bed for night time.

One of the key features of the Concept Truck 2020 is the visibility from the cab, an important safety component. The truck has a deep windscreen at the front, but also has large side windows. The lower part of the doors is also made from glass to allow optimum visibility. Volvo says the windows could be easily blackened, one assumes with an electro-magnetic feature as is currently available for commercial windows, or in the case of the windscreen covered with a blind.

The external design of the concept truck is futuristic without being completely far-fetched. Volvo's design team says it used lines and shapes that would try and make the truck look smaller than it actually is.

It has LED headlights as well as LED indicators that are built into the front bumper. The nose is largely smooth with only a small grille at the bottom for the best aerodynamics. Volvo says this design is also 'gentler' in the event of a collision with a car or other vehicles.

You might notice there are no wing mirrors on the Concept Truck 2020, instead it has two cameras that project images onto the inside of the windscreen. This adds cost, but helps cut drag. Volvo says other aerodynamic changes to the trailers of trucks could bring a far greater gain than anything it can do to the prime mover.

The use of side skirts and duck-tails, which dramatically reduce the drag at the rear of the vehicle, have been shown to deliver significant fuel saving benefits. The only problem is that they also cut into cargo space.

Volvo says a larger aerodynamic benefit could come from a dramatic change in the way trucks travel.

Following the same lines as the SMART project in Europe, Volvo imagines trucks could travel in convoys on a form of electronic auto-pilot. Travelling close behind each other, the trucks would save significant amounts of fuel by running in the slipstream of the vehicle in front. But how would this train cope with general traffic?

Volvo envisages that the best way is trucks and general traffic separate: "This will be possible when the transport sector's vision of green corridors becomes reality," Orell says. "Here heavy goods vehicles are separated from other traffic, driving in their own lanes, like a railway but without rails."

Orell says apart from the fuel economy advantages of this system, the truck train would allow drivers of following vehicles to rest for much of the journey. It all sounds promising except that the massive cost of dedicated truck lanes is likely to be prohibitive for some time.

What Volvo does not discuss when it comes to the Concept Truck 2020 is the powertrain. The company is not prepared to predict what technology will be used to power its truck of the future. It could be that it doesn't want to give away what it is working on, or that it really doesn't know how engines will change in 10 years.

History suggests predicting powertrain technology can be difficult. Take the 1954 edition of Australia's Cars magazine which predicted the engine technology that would arrive in the next decade. It said 'sun power,' an early term for solar energy, would soon propel cars, while gas turbines were also a realistic option. In the mid-1950s, nuclear power units were being fitted to US battle ships and the US air force was testing one in a long-range bomber.

Cars Magazine suggested that when it came to nuclear power, "the next step is obviously for automobiles." Thankfully, that never happened. Realistically, it is likely that trucks will still be powered by turbo diesel engines in 10 years, although they will no doubt have to adhere to even stricter emission standards than now. The sheer weight of trucks and their freight means electric motors, which will soon be used for small city cars, are not appropriate given they are unable to produce the energy needed to pull 60-tonnes.