New Launches
Show Report: CV Show 2012
What a cracking event the 2012 Commercial Vehicle Show turned out to be, thanks in no small part to Ford… Read More
Mitsubishi L200 4x4 Long-Term Test 1
We has just taken delivery of a Mitsubishi L200 4x4 Club Cab for long-term appraisal… Read More
Ford Transit ECOnetic Brief Test
We’ve been putting a SWB 100hp 2.2TDi Euro 5 Transit 280 ECOnetic through its paces… Read More
Renault Kangoo ZE 2011 European Launch
Renault is at the forefront of manufacturers offering a mass produced factory-built electric van… Read More
Fuso Canter 2011 European Launch
Fuso has completely revamped its range of light and heavy truck Canter chassis and chassis crew cabs… Read More
Iveco Daily 2011 European Launch
Iveco has introduced new, latest generation diesels to its Daily range, along with detail changes inside and out… Read More
Ford Transit 2011 European Launch
Ford takes the iconic Transit to the next stage with an all-new range of 2.2-litre Euro 5 diesels… Read More
Volkswagen Crafter 2011 UK Launch
VW’s large panel van has undergone a serious makeover with changes to the front-end styling and the cab interior, as well as new Euro 5 diesels… Read More
Ford Transit Connect Electric Brief Test
We spent a day with the battery-powered Connect to get a better idea of what it’s like to live with in its natural, urban environment. Read More
Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL Brief Test
Currently undergoing trials with selected fleet customers in the UK, we managed to get behind the wheel of a battery-powered Vito E-CELL… Read More
Volkswagen Crafter 2011 European Launch
Volkswagen’s Crafter has undergone a midlife makeover and gets a new front-end along with new Euro 5 engines… Read More
Wednesday, 19 January 2011 11:56 | 
Written by Russell Brown
Road train driving project up and running
Imagine joining a motorway, finding a train of vehicles following the leader and ‘locking-on’ via a dash-mounted touch screen. Then sit back and relax as the lead vehicle does all the work. That’s a road train or 'platooning'.This is the idea behind the EU taxpayer-funded SARTRE project — the rather forced acronym stands for Safe Road Trains for the Environment. Platooning, as envisaged by the development team from seven companies and led by the UK’s Ricardo, is a convoy of vehicles where a professional driver in a lead one basically controls a line of other vehicles, all connected wirelessly to each other.
The first successful demonstration was carried out at Volvo’s test track in Sweden and it was the first time all the separate systems involved had talked to each other in a real-world situation.
There are several ideas behind the system. Firstly, it minimises the human element of driving, the cause of at least 80 per cent of accidents. Secondly it should enable fuel consumption reduction — and hence CO2 output — by 20 per cent. It also frees-up drivers so they can get on with checking e-mails, making phone calls or simply chilling-out. Lastly, if the train is travelling at the maximum permitted speed with only a few metres gap between them, platooning may also relieve congestion.It seems like a lunatic idea to us — especially if the lead driver is suicidal — but the technology involved is very interesting, despite the fact that it’s bound to be really, really expensive to implement. Check out the video and make up your own mind.