Industry outpaces law on Euro 6 engines

The road transport industry is carrying the load on bringing Euro 6-compliant heavy trucks to Australia years ahead of government regulations.

There are two main reasons for the early introduction of Euro 6 trucks: in some manufacturing facilities overseas it's cheaper to mass produce vehicles to one standard, rather than several different standards and, in Australia, more and more customers are demanding lower-emissions trucks and buses.

It is important to note that Euro 6 and its international equivalents in the USA, China and Japan were gazetted in the 2007-2012 period, yet in Australia we're still at Euro 5 and its local equivalent level, ADR 80/03.

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The current plan, if the Morrison Government is re-elected in May 2019, is for Euro 6 (or ADR 80/04) for trucks, buses, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to be implemented in – wait for it – 2027!

If truck makers were arguing for this delay it might perhaps be understandable, because many of their fleet customers hate change, but the Australian Truck Industry Council (TIC) that represents most truck makers and importers is advocating an early introduction of Euro 6.

The Euro 6 delay is understandable in the case of passenger cars and light commercials, because Australia's diesel quality is way short of what's required for Euro 6 compliance in small diesels. However, Euro 6 truck diesels don't appear to have the same problems.

Experience with Euro 6 and its international equivalents in Australian fleets has been largely positive, with good reliability and improved fuel consumption over some Euro 5 engines.

It's not just lower exhaust emissions that are significant in this change, because in these highly electronic days, engine electronics are linked to what happens with transmissions and brakes.

If your engine doesn't incorporate the latest electronics package you may not be able to have the latest developments in transmission technology, stability control, roll-over mitigation, lane diversion, adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking.

An example of this is the recent introduction of Volvo's dual clutch transmission (DCT). It has been available in Europe on Euro 6 vehicles for years, but had to be recalibrated to match Volvo's Euro 5 13-litre engine that's sold – in compliance with the current laws – Down Under. For a relatively small-volume market like Australia, this reworking can cause delays.

It is interesting that Volvo didn't bring in the DCT much earlier behind a Euro 6 13-litre engine. Arch rivals Mercedes-Benz and Scania have Euro 6 engines in their line-up, but not Volvo.

That's all the more surprising because Volvo's Japanese subsidiary, UD Trucks, has Euro 6-compliant 11-litre engines in its excellent new Quon range.

Although the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) won't confirm it, Trucksales.com.au understands a draft proposal is under consideration to link Euro 6 compliance with productivity incentives, including a truck width increase to the 2.55m dimension that's accepted in Europe and the USA, along with a permitted axle group increase of a half-tonne, on steer or drive.

Obviously, an increase to seven tonnes on a steer axle would dictate a larger steer tyre size, but not necessarily in the case of twin-steer trucks.

The Australian Trucking Association has also pushed for width and weight concessions as part of its support for Euro 6 implementation.

If these proposals meet with state regulators' approval they could be in place years before 2027 and those makers not willing to offer Euro 6 engines could lose sales.