Peloton Technology // Explainer Videos

PROJECT/

Platooning is where trucks draft each other safely, to save fuel. By connecting the trucks with a radio link, trucks in a platoon accelerate and decelerate together, while the system manages the gap between the trucks. When the lead driver in a platoon hits the brakes, the brakes in the follow truck go on before the lead truck even starts to slow down.  The system maintains a gap of about 50 feet between the trucks.

When they platoon, the lead truck saves about 4.5% on fuel, while the follow truck saves about 10%. That’s a lot of fuel, when you consider that trucks use almost a quarter of all the energy used for transportation in the US.

This design research project was intended to guide the design of Peloton’s Platoon Pro user interface and system behavior. But while we were working on product problems, we discovered deeper perceptual problems. The #1 rule of truck safety is to keep plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. Platooning breaks that rule, which is central to every driver’s training. But as we dug into the reasons that drivers were skeptical, we realized that some of their concerns were based on misconceptions. Worse yet, some of those misconceptions were being fueled by the way we had been telling our story.

Drivers told us that when it comes to new technology, seeing is believing. So we tried to address the most troubling driver concerns and misconceptions and addressed them in ways that show more than tell.

RESULT/

When we started this project drivers told us that there was no way they would platoon. It’s just not safe. Our focus on addressing driver concerns in ways that drivers could relate to, helped us turn that tide.

By the time we were training drivers for real world trials, with actual customers, we did more than overcome their skepticism. Drivers were excited to try it.