A multi-year trial to ascertain the effectiveness of platooning technology on the UK road network has found that fuel savings are negligible in a real-world setting and unlikely to be sufficient for the freight industry to adopt the practice.
Platooning involves multiple vehicles travelling together via electronic or mechanical means to decrease the space between them and reduce air resistance, thereby saving fuel and reducing carbon and other emissions.
National Highways has published a report into the HelmUK project – the UK’s first real-world trial of HGV platooning, which ran between 2017 and 2022.
It said that the trial, which was also supported by TRL and the Department for Transport, showed that platooning can be utilised safely on the UK road network, with no additional risks highlighted, but that improvements to air quality and fuel savings have not been as significant as predicted.
The trial found that real-world fuel savings over using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) were ‘negligible’ at 0.5%. Further analysis found that in a road network optimised for platooning, fuel savings could increase to between 2.5% and 4.1%.
At this level, the report suggests that meaningful uptake from the freight industry is unlikely because stakeholder engagement found that a minimum fuel saving of 2% would be required for operators with large fleets to invest in platooning technology.
HelmUK also found that platooning was as safe as ACC operation, ‘if risks with merging vehicles at junctions are managed’.
However, the research found that the primary reason for low fuel savings is the safety requirement to disband the platoon at nine out of every 10 junctions.
The trial involved three HGVs being electronically coupled. All had drivers and the coupling was only to ensure that the distance between vehicles was maintained.
Joanna White, interim roads development director at National Highways, said: ‘To have been able to carry out this world-first trial despite the complications caused by Covid and other factors is an achievement in itself, and we’ve learned a lot from it.
‘Safety is our first imperative, and we are happy that this trial was carried out safely and has shown that platooning is viable from that perspective.
‘We’re hopeful that the robust knowledge generated from this trial will be used to inform future research and development worldwide.’
