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Volvo wins US government contract to develop supertruck

Under a SuperTruck contract established with the US Department of Energy, Volvo Technology of America is scheduled to receive US$19 million in federal funding to be used by the Volvo Group’s North American truck-related operations to improve the freight-moving efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and reduce greenhouse gases.
April 17, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Under a SuperTruck contract established with the US Department of Energy, 609 Volvo Technology of America is scheduled to receive US$19 million in federal funding to be used by the Volvo Group’s North American truck-related operations to improve the freight-moving efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and reduce greenhouse gases.

A team of researchers and engineers in Greensboro, North Carolina and Hagerstown, Maryland will spend the next five years developing high-efficiency heavy-duty truck technologies aimed at moving more freight with less fuel, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Improved truck aerodynamics and energy conversion efficiency, maximising the output potential of the energy source, are two areas that are claimed to hold great promise for Class 8 efficiency gains.

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