Saturday, March 8, 2008

We Need New Truck Designs

Over 20 years ago designer Luigi Colani had a vision to make the horribly aerodynamically deficient 18-wheeler a better looking and streamlined machine. Luigi was able to design a truck back then that was 25% more fuel-efficient. His latest concept truck is 50% more fuel-efficient than existing tractor trailers on the roads today and that is without changing the engine. Trucking companies that drive boxy machines that haven't changed much over the past few decades are wasting large amounts of money for no valid reason except for they haven't demanded innovation from the companies that provide the trucks. Most of the goods in the world are delivered from ports to distribution centers and then on to the local store where you shell out additional amounts of your own money to pay for the fuel wasted by the modern trucks that haul the goods. There are large enough corporations out there that rely heavily on trucking and have to pass the cost of fuel and fuel taxes on to consumers that should have the power to change this inefficiency in the supply chain. If someone was able to design a truck over 20 years ago that was 25% more fuel efficient based on body shape alone, why haven't we adopted the designs on a large scale? When that same designer creates a truck, that is 50% more fuel-efficient and we still do not take notice then something is wrong. How much more expensive does fuel have to get before someone stands up and says "Hey, wait a minute...18-wheelers aren't aerodynamic! Maybe we should design them better."? These concept trucks should be handled differently than concept cars. With concept cars, the "out there" thinking is slowly brought into the designs of actual models because the consumer isn't always ready to make such drastic changes in their purchasing decisions. The trucking companies shouldn't car about how "manly" or "cool" a truck looks, they should care only about the fuel efficiency. Luigi Colani's designs should be taken seriously and used in developing trucks that are not so damaging to the environment and to the consumers wallet.

Luigi Colani Website
City Of Sound Luigi Colani Exhibit
Future Car Video

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

More great Colani designs at

www.colani.org


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Subarna said...


Great post. It is complicated to me now, but in typical, the efficiency and significance is annoying. Very much thanks again and best of luck! Thanks for sharing.

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