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For those of you not familiar with my current project 70+/10 the goal of this endeavor is to be able to attain double digit fuel economy numbers while using cruise speeds up to 75 mph where safe and legal. So far, the results have been 9.6 mpg as an overall average . I have been able to record several over 10 mpg fill ups with speed up to 70 mph.

It has become evident to me that it will require some gear ratio and aerodynamic changes to be able to record over 10 mpg with cruise speeds up to 75 mph. I feel as though I set the bar too high to maintain the double-digit fuel mileage average I recorded up to 65 mph. A 10 mph change in cruise speed creates quite a few challenges in regards to operating efficiency.

This is why I am going to change my expectations and rename this project 70/10 as opposed to 70+/10. This change does not mean that I am abandoning the original goal of obtaining over 10 mpg with cruise speeds up to 75 mph. That goal of obtaining fuel mileage at 75 mph is simply out of reach at this point .  From this point forward, I will lower my maximum cruise speed to 70 mph to see if my goals of 10+ mpg can be met. I still think a average of 9.6 mpg with cruise speeds up to 75 mph is quite a testiment of what can be done with todays Cascadia AeroX powered by Detroit followed by a aerodynamic van trailer. Stay posted for future details as this project moves forward .

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Comment (1)

Henry Albert

Henry Albert is the owner of Albert Transport, Inc., based in Statesville, NC. Before participating in the "Slice of Life" program, Albert drove a 2001 Freightliner Century Class S/T™, and will use his Cascadia for general freight and a dry van trailer. Albert, who has been a trucker since 1983, was recognized by Overdrive as its 2007 Trucker of the Year.

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Henry,
I know you are keenly aware of this but for anyone reading that isn't familiar, the relationship between required HP and desired speed is not linear, but in fact exponential. It doesn't take 1 HP to increase speed 1 MPH but in fact takes more than 1 HP to increase speed 1 MPH. In order to gain that increase in HP it requires a similar increase in fuel. What Henry has done is proven this mathematical concept in his real world application. He appears to be approaching the limit of his current setup in terms of fuel economy vs speed. As Henry stated, in order to gain the 70+/10 goal, further mechanical and aerodynamic improvements will have to be implemented first. It appears that his current setup may work for the 70/10 goal however. What is interesting to me is that most people never pay attention to this concept and they certainly don't track fuel consumption with respect to speed to the level that Henry has done. You can search Google for "power versus speed", click on images and look at the 4th chart over on the top row. It clearly shows this mathematical concept and breaks it down by drivetrain, aerodynamics, tires, ancillary and total power.

April 20, 2018 9:29:58 AM