All business areas except Volvo Aero are wholly dependent on the diesel engine. It is the most fuel-efficient engine that is commercially available.
This is a major reason for the fact that the diesel is more or less the predominant power source used in heavy commercial vehicles.
Volvo improves energy efficiency
The modern diesel engine has an efficiency of approximately 45% compared with about 30% for a petrol engine. Volvo is devoting significant resources to the ongoing improvement of the fuel-efficiency of its engines.
As one of the biggest manufacturers of heavy diesel engines in the world, Volvo commands the major resources necessary to continue to improve the energy efficiency of the unit.
Transmissions, rolling resistance and drag are other areas which are important in the context of reducing fuel consumption, as is the optimisation of complete propulsion systems for marine applications.
Legislation decrease emissions
Decreasing the other emissions from diesel engines is addressed by legislation and is actually a major driver for the diesel engine development.
During 2002 this was demonstrated in the US by the different approaches that were taken to the EPA02 legislation that came into force in October. Volvo Trucks introduced a completely new truck, designed to meet the emission standards with very competitive fuel consumption.
EURO 4 and EURO 5
In Europe the coming EURO 4 and EURO 5 levels still require much attention. Engines for off-road and marine use now face much stricter and similar demands as on-highway engines.