Volvo Call for “entire vehicle” Phase 2 GHG and Fuel Efficiency Regulations

Volvo have outlined their desire for Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Fuel Efficiency standards to regulate at the vehicle level rather than the individual components of the vehicle.

Tony Grezler, Vice President Government & Industry Relations at Volvo Group Truck Technology was speaking at the 7 addressing senior stakeholders from across the emissions reduction supply chain.

Grezler detailed the steps that Volvo had made in meeting Phase 1 standards to emphasise his point in ensuring flexibility in meeting future stricter standards. For Phase 1, Volvo’s compliancy plans varied from the Environmental Protection Agency’s assumption, in that it didn’t include a five minute idle shutdown nor a 63 MPH speed limiter due to a lack of acceptance of the technologies by their customers.

Volvo reported that their Phase 2 compliance strategy had been a success with no market disruption, no requirement for new technologies and that they hadn’t forced unwanted technologies on to their customers.

Grezler outlined his expectations of the challenges of Phase 2 regulation which include the need to develop and deploy new technology and that the vehicle model will include the actual powertrain rather than a generic version.

He commented on Volvo’s objective to achieve total vehicle efficiency which emphasised his point that the whole vehicle should be regulated and not different vehicle parts while stressing the importance of meeting the requirements of their customers who want low-cost, reliable vehicles.

Areas that Volvo are investigating to achieve reduced Greenhouse Gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency include automated transmissions, improvements in aerodynamics in combination with powertrain improvements, opportunities presented by trailer development and energy management technologies.

Grezler declared that hybrid heavy-duty vehicles was not a part of their GHG and fuel efficiency plans, believing that the “US market for hybrid vehicles is dead” owing to low sales and high cost and warned that if they are forced on the market, he anticipated that customers would resort to repairing and rebuilding old equipment to avoid the high costs of hybrid technology.

Tony Grezler also stressed that Phase 2 standards must consider stringency, timing, duty cycle while being cost appropriate to the market but that OEMs are working with EPA, NHTSA and Air Resources Board (ARB) to effectively develop Phase 2.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

The presentation took place at the 7th Integer Emissions Summit & DEF Forum USA 2014 in Chicago on the 28 – 30 October. The conference provided a detailed analysis of the challenges and opportunities for the on- and off-highway, marine and Diesel Exhaust Fluid sectors.