Daimler Trucks North America today announced pricing for meeting EPA2010 standards with its Detroit Diesel BlueTec or Cummins mid-range engine emissions technologies.
Emissions technology surcharges for vehicles equipped with Detroit Diesel DD15 and DD16 big bore engines, as well as the medium bore DD13, will be $9,000 per vehicle. A surcharge of $7,300 will be added to vehicles equipped with the Cummins ISC8.3 engine, and a $6,700 surcharge will be added to the price of vehicles equipped with Cummins ISB6.7 engines.
The surcharges reflect costs associated with adding selective catalytic reduction (SCR) which has been proven to significantly improve fuel economy compared to EPA 2007 engines while reducing long-term operating costs and meeting the stringent, near-zero emission standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that take effect January 1, 2010.
"SCR is the only emissions technology in decades proven to be as good for business as it is for the environment," said Martin Daum, president and CEO, Daimler Trucks North America. "Our decade of commitment to this technology as a vertically integrated chassis and engine manufacturing company has allowed us to contain design and development costs. Most importantly, we're pleased to deliver a proven solution that gives our customers a return on their emissions technology investment."
SCR is an emissions technology that treats NOx emissions downstream in the exhaust so that the engine can be tuned to run more efficiently and economically. SCR technology consists of an after-treatment catalyst system that allows engine exhaust to be treated with a non-hazardous fluid known as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) that reduces harmful NOx into simple nitrogen and water.
Advanced electronic engine controls link the elements of the system to make SCR a convenient and economical solution for vehicle owners and drivers. And since virtually no base engine changes are needed for SCR to work, service technicians will also find no engine maintenance changes for EPA2010.
"SCR is the only technology that will provide significant fuel savings to our customers," said Mark Lampert, senior vice president of sales for Daimler Trucks North America. "In fact, customers are reporting up to a 5% increase in miles per gallon with BlueTec-equipped EPA 2010 test engines hauling freight today.
"We feel strongly that providing our customers with payback in the form of significant improvement in fuel economy is of fundamental importance and an appropriate return on their investment in 2010 technology."
Detroit Diesel BlueTec fuel efficiencies are the result of three optimization factors: base engine-out NOx levels, diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration intervals, and exhaust back pressure. In addition, reduced reliance on exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) lowers heat rejection which means no expansion of cooling capacity and no resulting impact on aerodynamics or under-hood packaging.
According to Lampert, from an operating perspective, the fuel efficiencies achieved with the Detroit Diesel DD15 engine with BlueTec emissions technology effectively return North American trucking to pre-EGR fuel economy levels while reducing dependence on foreign oil and reducing emissions to near-zero levels at the tailpipe. And, with more than 25 million test miles completed in North America, including successful real-world freight hauling experience at several major fleets, and more than 200,000 SCR trucks already operating in Europe, "that return on investment in BlueTec SCR technology is more than just
fuel economy...it's proven reliability."