Robostreet Flow: A Lightweight, Ultra-Low-Drag Electric Tractor and Four-Truck Hybrid Convoy Architecture for Minimum-Cost Point-to-Point Freight
Robostreet Flow: A Lightweight, Ultra-Low-Drag Electric Tractor and Four-Truck Hybrid Convoy Architecture for Minimum-Cost Point-to-Point Freight
Robostreet Flow：一种用于最低成本点对点货运的轻量化、超低风阻电动牵引车及四车混合编队架构
Line-haul trucking costs are dominated by three comparably sized components: energy, driver labor, and equipment. Most efficiency technologies address only one component at a time. This paper presents Robostreet Flow, a freight architecture that jointly optimizes the vehicle, convoy formation, and operating model to minimize cost per ton-mile on high-volume point-to-point corridors.
长途货运成本主要由三个规模相当的部分构成：能源、驾驶员人工和设备。大多数效率提升技术一次只能解决其中一个方面。本文提出了 Robostreet Flow，这是一种货运架构，通过联合优化车辆、编队形式和运营模式，旨在最大限度地降低高容量点对点运输走廊的每吨英里成本。
The Flow platform is a battery-electric 6x4 tractor with a teardrop single-seat cab and a drag coefficient of 0.35, approximately 40% below that of conventional Class 8 tractors. A carbon-composite monocoque and structurally integrated batteries reduce net vehicle weight by 50%. A 513 kWh tractor battery and a 340 kWh powered trailer battery provide a 500-mile single-charge range.
Flow 平台是一款电池驱动的 6x4 牵引车，采用泪滴型单座驾驶室，风阻系数为 0.35，比传统 8 类重型卡车低约 40%。碳纤维复合材料单体壳结构和结构集成电池将车辆净重降低了 50%。513 kWh 的牵引车电池和 340 kWh 的挂车动力电池可提供 500 英里的单次充电续航里程。
Four Flow trucks operate as a coordinated convoy with a safety driver only in the lead vehicle, while three followers operate in SAE Level 4 automated mode. Computational fluid dynamics simulations show that close following at an 8 m gap reduces follower drag coefficients by 42-48% and follower peak frontal pressure by approximately a factor of four relative to the exposed lead vehicle.
四辆 Flow 卡车以协同编队形式运行，仅在领航车中配备一名安全员，而三辆后随车则在 SAE 4 级自动驾驶模式下运行。计算流体动力学模拟显示，在 8 米间距下紧密跟随，可使后随车的风阻系数降低 42-48%，且后随车的峰值正面压力相对于暴露在外的领航车降低了约四倍。
A longitudinal energy model calibrated to these results predicts fleet-average consumption of 1.27 kWh/mi in convoy, compared with 1.60 kWh/mi for an isolated vehicle, for a 20.5% energy saving. Electricity cost is approximately 17% of the equivalent diesel fuel cost. Amortizing one driver across four trucks and accounting for the additional payload enabled by lightweighting reduce operating cost from 9.4 to 4.1 cents per ton-mile, a 56% reduction relative to a diesel baseline. Sensitivity analysis, a hub-to-hub operating concept, and regulatory implications are also presented.
根据这些结果校准的纵向能源模型预测，编队行驶时的车队平均能耗为 1.27 kWh/mi，而单车行驶时为 1.60 kWh/mi，节能效果达 20.5%。电力成本约为同等柴油燃料成本的 17%。通过将一名驾驶员的成本分摊到四辆卡车上，并计入轻量化带来的额外载荷，运营成本从每吨英里 9.4 美分降低至 4.1 美分，较柴油基准降低了 56%。文中还介绍了敏感性分析、枢纽到枢纽的运营概念以及监管影响。