Volvo Trucks North America will meet 2007 emissions standards with a complete family of diesel engines that includes new 11- and 13-liter models, in addition to the 16-liter Volvo D16 introduced earlier this year.
The announcement was made at a Monday, Oct. 17 news conference in Boston during the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition.
“These new engines are designed to surpass the excellent record of the Volvo D12, while also giving our customers the ability to fine-tune their engine choice, based on their application and other requirements,” said Peter Karlsten, president and CEO of Volvo Trucks North America.
The engines will be available for inspection by customers during the first quarter of 2006.
Volvo also will continue to offer customers the option of Cummins ISX engines, Karlsten said. Currently, about 60 percent of Volvo’s truck customers spec Volvo engines, 40 percent Cummins engines.
The new Volvo engines are designed with both 2007 and 2010 emissions standards in mind, Karlsten said. As previously announced, Volvo will meet federal emissions standards for 2007 with high-performance exhaust gas recirculation and a diesel particulate filter. Whether to use EGR technology in 2010 is still being explored, Karlsten said.
The new family of engines will be easily adaptable to selective catalytic reduction in 2010 if Volvo opts for that technology, Karlsten said.
Tens of thousands of Volvo trucks already use EGR systems. Volvo’s 2007 engines will use a higher rate of EGR to lower nitrogen oxide emissions. All Volvo’s 2007 engines will use the ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel that was mandated by the U.S. government to be available in the second half of 2006.
The service interval for the 2007 diesel particulate filters is expected to be 150,000 miles or, on average, about a year and a half, with a cleaning cost at each interval of about $150, Karlsten said. Volvo will install warning lamps to let drivers know when the filter needs servicing, Karlsten said.
“We are where we need to be with our testing and development to ensure that our customers receive engines with the performance, fuel economy and reliability they demand from Volvo,” Karlsten said.
Other features of Volvo’s 2007 engines include:
The current Volvo D16 is the first engine to use such architecture. The new family of engines will have the same level of fuel economy as the Volvo D12, Karlsten said.
The new family of engines will be built at the Volvo Powertrain North America plant in Hagerstown, Md.
