Military trucks are not supposed to be friendly in any way, however, Ricardo built such a vehicle, called the FED ALPHA. Ricardo's FED ALPHA is an environment friendly vehicle developed to be as fuel efficient as possible. The Ricardo FED ALPHA is part of the Fuel Efficient Ground Vehicle Demonstrator (FED) program for the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC).
In order to meet the program's requirements, Ricardo powers the FED ALPHA with a Cummins I4 engine and equips it with Goodyear Fuel Max low rolling resistance tires. The on-board electric power is generated by a Kollmorgen 28-volt permanent magnet integrated starter-generator.
The structure, armoring, and underbody blast shield of the FED ALPHA are made from aluminum by Alcoa Defense.
Ricardo's FED ALPHA military truck has its world debut these days at the 2011 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition.
