Scania is celebrating another win, taking out the Green Truck title for the fifth year running.
The award is organised by two German trade magazines and measures transport efficiency for long-distance trucks.
Organisers stipulated a gross train weight of 32 tonnes and up to 430hp for the trucks that took on the 360km test track north of Munich. This year Scania entered an R 410 prime mover. The truck’s average consumption was measured at 23.53 litres per 100km, while Scania also managed the highest average speed, reaching 80.60 km/h.
The testing is rigorously monitored and takes place on public roads with a mix of highways and rural roads, including steep hills. Conditions that can influence the results, such as traffic and weather, are compensated for by the use of a reference truck. All the trucks have the same brand of tyres, with the same wear and pressure.
“Winning this test five years in a row is a feat that should not be possible, yet we’ve still done it. I see it as the ultimate proof of how Scania’s powertrain technology supports our customers in their constant efforts to reach the best total operating economy,” said Stefan Dorski, senior vice president and head of Scania Trucks.
“Being able to offer the most efficient trucks is not only part of Scania’s DNA and something we always strive for; it is also extremely important for fighting climate change and reaching our ambitious science-based targets.
“Although electrification is on its way, we need the most efficient combustion engines to reach the Paris Agreement targets, something Scania is committed to.”
Dorski added that the trucks used in testing such as these are regular production trucks. “Some people might think that press test trucks are ‘prepared’ or somehow produced on purpose; they are not,” he explained.
“They are regular production trucks, just like the ones our customers can order. They are admittedly well kept and well maintained, but I recommend that all truck owners do so. The really great thing about ‘Green Truck’ and other press tests is that these winners from Scania are the same breed of trucks that our customers use in their daily operations.”
Though the 410hp engine used in this test isn’t as popular in Australia as the bigger 450, 500 and 540hp versions, Scania added that the same technology is used in all of its 13-litre six-cylinder engines.
Adding to its ‘green’ accolades, Scania has also come up on top in a recent report by the EU Commission which published statistics on CO2 emissions from new trucks for each heavy vehicle manufacturer registered in the Union from July 2019 to June 2020.
In the report, Scania is best in class in terms of energy efficiency and low CO2 emissions, 4.7 per cent below the CO2 limit set by the EU. Scania is also the only heavy truck manufacturer in the study that is clearly below the EU limit, with most of the others above.
“The CO2 figures published by the EU show that there is a clear market leader in fuel consumption – Scania. These figures are based on certified testing of components and trucks and reflect Scania’s unique and long-term work with aerodynamics and driveline,” said Henrik Wentzel, senior advisor at product planning at Scania.
“The advantage of the certified CO2 values that the EU publishes is that everyone has to try and calculate in the same way – this is the fairest way available to compare emissions between manufacturers.”