Emissions challenge for engine manufacturers

The German construction equipment manufacturer's association, the VDMA, has said that the new EU-exhaust emission directive presents a major challenge for its members. According to the VDMA, the introduction of the EU-Exhaust Emission Regulation Stage IIIB has resulted in a great deal of investment at huge cost. For customers that has resulted in higher prices and the VDMA sees tighter regulation as being counter-productive.
February 29, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Komatsu Europe's store of engines is ready for the new emissions regulations

The German construction equipment manufacturer's association, the VDMA, has said that the new EU-exhaust emission directive presents a major challenge for its members.

According to the 1331 VDMA, the introduction of the EU-Exhaust Emission Regulation Stage IIIB has resulted in a great deal of investment at huge cost. For customers that has resulted in higher prices and the VDMA sees tighter regulation as being counter-productive.

Various manufacturers have commented on the cost of meeting the new regulations.

Dr Günter Hähn, executive director in charge of the 364 Wirtgen Group's Technical Division said, "We have to adapt our machines. That costs a lot of money." The exhaust emission regulations have been in force in Europe and the USA since beginning of this year. Hähn estimates that approximately from one third up to half of all development capacities within the group have been taken up by meeting emissions targets and the costs are enormous.

This is not restricted to Wirtgen and the situation is the same for all manufacturers of construction machinery throughout Europe and the USA.

Thomas Weber, managing director 2394 Volvo Construction Equipment Germany said, "We have had to completely change the design of our large wheel loaders." According to Weber, the development costs are very high in this area. What Weber would like to see is a "...realistic comparison of costs and benefit and the resulting practically-orientated solutions".

The relation must be right, he said. Weber pointed out that of the products which are also supplied by Volvo, each year a total of only around 30,000 new vehicles come on to the German market. Compared to the registrations of new cars and vans, this represents an extremely small figure. He also said that the total pollution level accounted for by construction machinery was correspondingly low.

Producers that sell their products not only in Europe and the USA, but also in other countries, are especially hard-hit by the new exhaust emissions regulations. Because the provisions do not apply in those countries, there is no low-sulphur diesel fuel to power these machines, and of course as no one is prepared to pay the higher prices, they must now build two variations of the same machines at their plants, one for the European and US market and the other for the rest of the world.
Engines, Components & Tyres

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Wheeled loaders tackle costs, reduce emissions
    February 7, 2012
    Volvo CE says that lowering fuel consumption will tackle fleet costs and deliver environmental benefits for its customers, Mike Woof reports. Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is targeting fuel economy and performance with its latest generation of machines. The new L180F and L220F wheeled loader models are being fitted with the sophisticated OptiShift package, which will boost operation and driveline efficiencies and cut fuel consumption by 15%, and more in some instances.
    Read More
  • 2014 is seeing a range of engine emissions solutions coming to market
    February 19, 2014
    For the off-highway equipment sector, 2014 is a year of note, as this is when the Tier 4 Final/Stage IV emissions legislation starts to be phased in for North America, Europe and Japan. For several years now engine manufacturers have been working hard to meet the demands of emissions targets set by legislators. This has been an extremely challenging task and one that many in the industry believed all but impossible just 10 years ago. Manufacturers have spent enormous sums developing engines that produce low
    Read More
  • The upcoming bauma 2013 construction equipment show will be the largest ever
    October 16, 2012
    The bauma 2013 construction equipment exhibition in Munich is set to be the largest event in the show’s history. Organised by Messe München, this will be the 30th bauma exhibition in Munich and will run from the 15th-21st April 2013, with the show covering some 570,000m2 and attracting 3,300 exhibitors. Some 450,000 visitors are expected to attend and Dr Wolf-Dietrich Müller, chief representative and senior executive officers of capital goods shows for the Messe München said, “We are able to increase our ca
    Read More
  • Engine innovations will cut emissions and increase performance
    October 1, 2014
    A series of innovations in engine technology will cut emissions and deliver fuel savings for customers - Mike Woof writes The start of 2014 saw the commencement of the final phase of the current set of engine emissions requirements for Europe and North America. With the introduction of the first set of Tier 4 Final/ Stage IIV emissions regulations, new generation diesel engines used in construction will deliver cleaner operating performance than ever before. These highly efficient engines have been devel
    Read More

Highlighted Content