One bearing company has found a way to optimize the design of a time-tested product that’s used single every day: the wheel.
The results are in after a yearlong trial of Spanish company Fersa’s take on the wheel hub, and they say they’ve proven their new and efficient design.
This fuel-efficient wheel hub has been designed to reduce both friction and rolling resistance. According to reports, it uses a combination of high load capacity, advanced materials, optimized lubrication and “microgeometric enhancements for optimized surface geometry.”
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Fersa, who claims to be the only bearing company who also develops its own hubs, said that the year’s worth of testing showed the new design can reduce drivetrain friction by as much as half.
So after literally reinventing the wheel, and testing it, what else did Fersa learn?
Well, they say these wheel hub users are generating 3-7% reductions in fuel consumption, with the average truck saving about $3,500 annually. The trial was conducted with various types of vehicles and many unique terrains, making its potential applications wide-ranging.
And for companies with sizable fleets, 3 to 7% fuel savings adds up quickly.
Carlos Giner is the Corporate Director of Transport at Sesé, a transport company and trial participant that has more than 3,000 trucks.
Giner said, “Every percentage of fuel savings translates into tangible cost reductions at our scale of operations.”
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