Iveco launches fuel saving guarantee with Ecostralis31 January 2011

Following its recent launch of the Ecostralis, Iveco is offering the truck range with a three year/400,000km guarantee of fuel savings of up to 4% against all of its UK-sold competition.

Iveco believes the truck's potential to cut fuel bills is closer to 8%, after independent trials conducted by TÜV SÜD demonstrated a 7.32% improvement between Ecostralis and other comparable models – so the guarantee looks conservative.

However, Henk van Leuven, managing director of Iveco UK, says the guarantee covers specific fuel-saving elements on Ecostralis, such as the new 460bhp engine, an eco-friendly setting on the gearbox, and revised rear axle ratio.

These, he says, collectively account for around 4%, with the remaining 3.3% fuel saving attributed to the vehicle's speed limit being reduced from 90 to 85km/h and the optional fitment of Michelin's X Energy Savergreen low rolling resistance tyres.

"The spiralling cost of diesel mean fleets must look at all viable opportunities to increase efficiency and ensure they are squeezing every last mile out of a tank of fuel," comments van Leuven.

As for the detail, he explains that the 4% fuel guarantee will be measured against the combined average performance of the customer's current heavy truck fleet.

He stresses that the guarantee stands against all makes of heavy truck sold in the UK, but adds that it will only be available to fleets where heavy trucks spend at least 55% of their working day on motorways and dual carriageways – the conditions that allow the enhanced efficiency of Ecostralis to be best achieved.

Fleets must also be using electronic fuel consumption measuring devices, or use a fuel card service that provides precise data on fuel usage.

Beyond all that, operators will also be required to confirm that their current tractor units operate within a power band of 400—500hp, and their axle configurations, tonnage bandwidths and existing average fuel consumption will also be checked.

"We expect at least 30% of operators will meet the pre-qualification criteria to apply, and 90% of those are likely to be approved for the guarantee," says van Leuven.

And he adds: "Our simulations show that in a typical haulage application the 4% fuel guarantee will more than recoup the additional £3,000 investment required to purchase the Ecostralis over a regular Stralis model. However fleets achieving the full 7.3% will enjoy a significant saving to their bottom line – potentially worth £5,000 per vehicle over three years."

The Cursor 10, 460hp engine used is standard for the Ecostralis range, available as a 6x2 or 4x2 tractor with either the Active Space Super3 or Active Time cabs. Maximum torque is 2,100Nm between 1,050 and 1,550rpm.

As with the entire range of Iveco trucks, Ecostralis meets EEV (enhanced environmentally friendly vehicles) requirements.

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Iveco

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