Elddis: Euro-6 is 3% more fuel efficient
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IN A ROAD trial, Elddis Transport has found a Mercedes-Benz Euro-6 powered artic is more fuel efficient than its Euro-5 trucks.
The Consett-based operator recently ran a new shape Actros fitted with a 420hp Euro-6 engine on a contract during May and June, covering around 800 miles a day.
The unit operated alongside Elddis’s 440hp Euro-5 ‘old shape’ Actros trucks, running the same loads in the same conditions. Nigel Cook, MD at Elddis Transport, says he was pleasantly surprised by the results, given the received wisdom ahead of Euro-6 units hitting the roads that they would be less fuel efficient than Euro-5 units.
“We found the units were around 2% to 3% more fuel efficient than Euro-5 trucks, and that it actually used less AdBlue,” says Cook. “It was very good, and we had no issues around performance.” However, Elddis is keeping its options open for now and has just placed an order for six Euro-5 new shape Actros trucks, as the improved aerodynamics of Mercedes’ latest design means fuel savings with this spec will be greater.
Cook says that while there remains a cost premium associated with the move to Euro-6 over Euro-5, the premium is moving in the right direction.
Where once he was being quoted £10,000, this has reduced to around the £7,000 mark already, with Euro-6 engines yet to be produced in any significant volume.