TuSimple study claims autonomous trucks are more fuel efficient
A TuSimple study claims that autonomous trucks are more fuel efficient than manually driven trucks.
In the study conducted by TuSimple, the autonomous truck company looked into the fuel savings performance of its Level 4 autonomous technology. The study analyzed more than 30,000 miles of highway driving and compared the fuel efficiency performance of the company’s professional drivers versus its autonomous driving system.
According to the study, there was an overall 11% advantage in fuel efficiency in autonomous trucks when compared to manually driven trucks.
The study produced a 6% fuel savings cruising at highway speeds. However, the data revealed significant fuel efficiency of autonomous trucks in other highway events, such as when following a slow vehicle or cutting in front of a vehicle, which showed efficiency improvements of more than 10% and 27%, respectively.
“While safety was not within the scope of this study, it is generally understood that smoother and more preemptive driving patterns lead to safer driving,” the study states. “TuSimple believes the adoption of (Level 4) autonomous technology has the potential to decrease fuel usage and create a safer driving environment for all road users.”
TuSimple also claims that if one out of every five trucks in long-haul operation in the U.S. improved fuel efficiency by 11%, annual fuel-cost savings generated would be nearly $1.2 billion. Carbon emissions would be reduced by nearly 6.3 billion pounds, as diesel usage would be reduced by over 279 million gallons.
The study also includes a “fuel and emissions savings” calculator. Trucking companies can input their fleet size and annual miles driven per truck to see how much they can save with 11% fuel efficiency. For example, a fleet of five trucks with 120,000 miles driven annually per truck would save nearly 8,500 gallons of fuel, which translates to nearly $39,000 in total annual savings. LL
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