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I know that diesel car engines have achieved slightly better fuel consumption and lower emissions over the years but is the same true for HGVs? Are they taxed on emissions and do they have standards to meet like EU 5 as for cars? I understood that a fully laden 40ft truck got about 11mpg, is that true and is better than it used to be? Pda - are you there?
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>>do they have standards to meet like EU 5
Yes.
Even going back to the early 90's emissions regulations were having a large effect on truck engine management. As an example, when cold starting, fuel injection was inhibited for a few cranking cycles to get some heat into the pistons and cylinders to reduce the smoke at start up.
One of things to be a bit wary of is that improvements in HGV mpg won't sound too startling, but, an increase in mpg from, say, 6.9 mpg to 7 mpg will represent a serious change in a heavy vehicle's fuel usage - a measurable change to the operating costs of the vehicle, while a change from 49.9 to 50 mpg on a car would pass completely unnoticed.
For vehicles running long distance, the big change in mpg was the introduction of speed limiters in the late 80's.
Aside from that, many of the changes which have made diesel engines for cars so much better than they used to be have in fact been the changes which make the car diesel engines more closely resemble truck engines. In particular, I'm thinking about turbocharging, unit injectors and common rail, and direct injection.
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NC has answered that a lot better than I could have done!
Fuel efficient driving is the big thing for lorry drivers now and all firms are happy to provide bonus payments to see.
My old firm pays £140 per month for a whole 1mpg reduction and it starts at £46 for 0.25mpg.
It doesn't seem a lot, but multiplied over 96 vehicles adds up to a considerable saving on a fleet averaging over 2000 per vehicle per week.
Auto gearboxes have also beome so popular as it takes away the differences in driving style and makes it possible for a fleet manager to project fuel costs easier.
The biggest reduction in fuel consumption is not leaving the engine idling, but try convincing drivers to switch off!
Pat
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HGV Fuel Consumption - Number_Cruncher
