Scania’s green credentials confirmed

Scania has proven its commitment to lowering emissions and reducing fuel consumption yet again, with the truck maker recently coming up trumps in Europe’s Green Truck Challenge for the fifth consecutive year.

The Green Truck comparison test is conducted by German trade magazines Trucker and Verkehrs-Rundschau, and pits trucks with a GCM of up to 32 tonnes and a power rating of up to 430hp together over a 360km test circuit north of Munich.

Scania entered an R 410 prime mover that trumped the field with an average consumption of 23.53L/100km, or 4.25km/lt, while also achieving the highest average speed of 80.60km/h.

“The words that come to me are: ‘total success’ and ‘customer value’,” said Stefan Dorski, Senior Vice President and Head of Scania Trucks, after hearing of the win.

“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.”

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The test is conducted over a wide mix of roads of varying terrain and traffic conditions. A control truck is used as a reference and all participating trucks use identical tyres, with the same tyre pressures and wear.

“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,” says Dorski.

“Although electrification is on its way, we need the most efficient combustion engines to reach the Paris Agreement targets, something Scania is committed to.”

Scania Australia points out that while the 410hp engine isn’t a particularly popular unit here in our market, the same technology is employed in all of the brand’s 13-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesels.

The accolade follows a recent EU Commission comparison report that shows the brand is ‘best in class’ in Europe among the heavy vehicle manufacturers for low CO2 emissions.

The report, which compared CO2 emissions of new trucks from each heavy vehicle manufacturer between July 2019 and June 2020, revealed Scania achieved a level 4.7 per cent below the limit set by the EU, while most other manufacturers were above.

“The CO2 figures published by the EU show that there is a clear market leader in fuel consumption – Scania,” said Henrik Wentzel, Senior Advisor at product planning at 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.

“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.”

Carbon dioxide emissions standards were legislated in Europe in 2019, with the EU setting reduction targets of 15 per cent from 2025 and 30 per cent from 2030, compared with 2019 levels.

The EU Commission report sets the baseline for these emissions, and will also be used as the basis for road tolls in Europe.