Maxion Wheels, the world’s largest wheel manufacturer, announced today the launch of Europe’s lightest mass-produced steel truck wheel at IAA Transportation 2022. With weight savings of 3 kg across the wheel line-up, compared with current state-of-the-art steel truck wheels, Maxion’s lightweight wheels can add a payload increase of 40 kg or more.
Wheels are one of the heavier components on a truck, making weight savings a priority for fleets. Reducing wheel mass, while preserving safety, quality and performance, can benefit both fuel efficiency and payload.
Lightweight, high-performance wheel expertise has made Maxion Wheels the leader in the supply of steel truck wheels. This new generation, beginning with the first wheel, a 22.5 x 11.75, will raise the standard even higher.
“Maxion Wheels is able to continue reducing weight, generation after generation, because we are passionate about engineering, avoiding unnecessary costs and supporting our customers with achieving their efficiency and sustainability targets,” said Pieter Klinkers, CEO of Maxion Wheels. “Every kilogram we remove means significant fuel savings and extra payload for customers. With the focus on fleet efficiency and vehicle productivity growing, selecting lighter, cost-effective wheels is a simple optimization that unlocks a lot of additional value.”
Maxion Wheels has a unique Lightweighting Process that integrates all performance and design parameters into advanced structural and simulation tools. Maxion experts use this information, combined with their materials expertise and production know-how to identify solutions that combine meaningful savings with the highest possible performance.
Lightweight design is also an important element in Maxion Wheels’ ROADMAP ZERO strategy to remove CO₂ emissions from its products and operations. With comprehensive lifecycle data, the positive impact of mass reductions on vehicle and production efficiency is clear. Lightweight design advances will play a role in a production-ready low-CO₂ steel truck wheel available in the near future.