In an effort to further reduce the nasty stuff that comes out the back of their cars, Volvo started a road train project which involved a pace-setting lead vehicle, which was to be followed by a number of other vehicles which would drive themselves as efficiently as possible, courtesy of Volvo’s advanced cruise control and active safety systems.
They started the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) program in 2009 and they are now reporting that their testing has been successfully completed, and that it is road-worty. Aside from the efficiency gain, the system also allows the driver to focus on other things, while the car drives itself in complete safety - imagine all the books that could be read in the newly-acquired free time.
Volvo has yet to announce an implementation of the system on a commercial scale, but rest assured, they would not have gone to all the trouble to test it in such a thorough way (it did take nearly three years), if they were not planning to eventually use it to regain some of the money spent refining it - we may start seeing road trains sooner than we think.
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