“There will be increased fuel consumption with Euro 6 technology” – so predicted many prophets of doom in the industry a few years ago when the new stringent emissions regulations were coming into being.
Today we have hindsight, and the reality was different. For example, Scania’s new inline-six, 13-liter and 410 horsepower engine set new fuel records on two well-established test routes in the hands of German and French trade journalists.
A record in fuel consumption
Never before has a 40-tonne Euro-combination (tractor and trailer) covered the demanding test route north of Munich – which is used by “Verkehrsrundschau”, among others – with a truly low fuel consumption of 23.29 litres/100 km. And mind you – it’s not a record for a Euro-6 truck; this consumption is the lowest that has been measured for any emission standard. The difference from the previous record holder was about a decilitre of diesel per 10 kilometres.
What does that mean in money, some people may wonder? For a typical European long-haulage truck, which usually covers some 120 000 km a year, this means that it saves 1.2 cubic metres of diesel every year. Calculated on the price of diesel in the first quarter at the pump in Sweden, which oscillates at around 14 crowns per litre, a driver can save SEK 16,800 (about 1,890 Euros) a year just by choosing a Scania! And imagine what the difference would be compared with any truck a few years old – which probably is not any previous record holder…
