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Is Walmart's WAVE Concept Truck The Fuel-Efficient Future Of Semis?
Green Car Reports via autos.yahoo.com ^ | Mon Mar 3, 2014 | Stephen Edelstein

Posted on 03/03/2014 12:37:37 PM PST by posterchild

Heavy-duty trucks spend more time on the road than passenger vehicles, so improving their efficiency can have a major effect on emissions--and their owners' bottom lines.

That's why Walmart is getting into the truck-design business with the WAVE--Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience--concept.

With its aerodynamic cab, the WAVE certainly doesn't look like any other large truck currently on U.S. roads.

(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: energy; trucking; walmart
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To: The Great RJ

Or why not use existing research and shape the front of the truck like any number of the jets currently in the skies? Some low profile fenders over the front wheels and they’re golden. Put the driver in front of the engine (a mid-engine semi if you will) and use ducts to feed air to the diesel.


21 posted on 03/03/2014 1:15:01 PM PST by Two Kids' Dad (((( ))))
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To: BlueDragon
Driver will be the first to arrive on the scene of an accident...

Yeah, beat me to it. And everyone will see him scratch his butt and everything else.

22 posted on 03/03/2014 1:19:20 PM PST by bgill
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To: SamAdams76

The Safelite Auto Glass people are gonna love that windshield.


23 posted on 03/03/2014 1:25:34 PM PST by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: Army Air Corps
I'm half disappointed I wasn't the first one to think the WAVE reminded me of The Highwayman.
24 posted on 03/03/2014 1:27:08 PM PST by RansomOttawa (tm)
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To: Army Air Corps

It was already done....

“The Highwayman”


25 posted on 03/03/2014 1:40:02 PM PST by 2CAVTrooper (Politicians and diapers need to be changed for the same reason)
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To: 2CAVTrooper

I know. But THIS re-boot would have a nuke-powered truck. :-)


26 posted on 03/03/2014 1:40:58 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: RansomOttawa

It was a fun show while it lasted.


27 posted on 03/03/2014 1:41:18 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: RansomOttawa

Me too.


28 posted on 03/03/2014 1:42:34 PM PST by 2CAVTrooper (Politicians and diapers need to be changed for the same reason)
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To: bgill

The side window visibility isn't all that bad in conventional trucks, if a driver takes the time to look. though there can be a blind spot if the driver doesn't turn his head and actually look to his left, and downward too.

It's the right-hand side which has the larger blind area...if a driver isn't always monitoring the mirrors...some dummy can sneak up into the right-side blind, then stay there. Changing lanes to the right is one of the more dangerous outmaneuvers.

But look at those tiny mirrors. How is a driver supposed to see much in those little things?

I know mirrors cause a lot of drag (old fashioned, so-called "West Coast" mirrors which can be flat. slab like affairs, about the worst)

But trucks need mirrors. The more the merrier, and a driver should use them all, all the time.

29 posted on 03/03/2014 1:44:19 PM PST by BlueDragon (Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.Proverbs 29:18)
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To: BlueDragon

They’re probably replacing the mirrors with cameras? Maybe with proximity sensors like in the rear bumpers of late model cars?


30 posted on 03/03/2014 1:48:07 PM PST by Sparticus (Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)
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To: Charles Martel

I'd hate to have need be washing THAT window. Do you have any idea how much time drivers have to spend, just washing the windshields? It's a PITA, everyday, for over-the-road long haul drivers.

If there might be rain ahead, wash the windows first. Get those bugs off (Spring-Summer-Fall) and the grime too, before getting under the rain. But if not --- whatever you do when the rain starts, particularly if it's only light to moderate -- DO NOT turn on the wipers until the stuff on the windshield is well hydrated.

Like I used to teach trainees, do not look at the water on the windshield, look through it and past it as long as you can stand it.

If the windshield wasn't reasonably clean (like--only a few hours or half a day of driving since last washed) then turning on the wipers, even with decent blades and washer fluid, can be regrettable.

Looking through a dripping wet windshield is clarity itself, compared to trying to see through smeared bugs and gunk.

31 posted on 03/03/2014 1:54:02 PM PST by BlueDragon (Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.Proverbs 29:18)
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To: Sparticus

That would be great. Until they don't work. And then dispatch keeps pushing the driver down the road for day after day, stretching into weeks on end...

32 posted on 03/03/2014 1:56:18 PM PST by BlueDragon (Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.Proverbs 29:18)
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To: posterchild

Wow carbon fiber chassis.
That thing is gonna be orders of magnitude more expensive than a current model. (not to mention crash repair costs)
Not sure if this is gonna work economically.


33 posted on 03/03/2014 1:59:36 PM PST by nascarnation (I'm hiring Jack Palladino to investigate Baraq's golf scores.)
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To: posterchild

Stupid Stupid Stupid. The dumba$$ company needs to add fender skirts. I get so pissed off in the rain trying to pass a semi.


34 posted on 03/03/2014 2:01:24 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
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To: Army Air Corps

35 posted on 03/03/2014 2:06:50 PM PST by Vroomfondel
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To: Vroomfondel

The Big Bus!


36 posted on 03/03/2014 2:09:14 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

It becomes self aware, and tries to destroy humanity.


37 posted on 03/03/2014 2:13:55 PM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: SamAdams76

Looks like a death trap for the driver.


38 posted on 03/03/2014 2:15:34 PM PST by dangerdoc (I don't think you should be forced to make the same decision I did even if I know I'm right.)
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To: Darksheare

Maximum Overdrive. :-)


39 posted on 03/03/2014 2:15:52 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: nascarnation

What cracks me up are the people here who seem to think modern trucks are designed with no concept of fuel efficiency.

Shocking as it may be to some, modern trucks aren’t designed by by an elderly scribe using an abacus and slide rule under candle light. They actually use computer modeling and wind tunnel testing.

I suspect most trucks on the road today are at least as efficient or more efficient than most passenger cars by weight carried. 7 or 8 mpg is pretty good for a vehicle pulling between 40,000 and 80,000 lbs.


40 posted on 03/03/2014 2:21:44 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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