Shell reckons its latest lubricants can cut fuel consumption for commercial vehicles by two per cent and for cars by 6.5 per cent.
It set out the results of tests at the 2011 Challenge Bibendum conference, held in Berlin’s historic Tempelhof airport.
In a collaboration with supermarket Morrisons, nine identical trucks were monitored over 55,000 km. Four used Shell Rimula R6 LME, and five used a 10W-40 reference oil.
The trucks running on Shell Rimula R6 LME reduced fuel consumption by two per cent, saving the equivalent of over 1,000 litres of fuel per truck per year.
Dr. Selda Gunsel, Shell’s vice president global commercial technology said: “We believe that lubricant formulation can be used as a design parameter in developing next generation, energy-efficient engines.”
Shell also launched a synthetic, low viscosity engine oil Helix Ultra E which it says can boost fuel economy by up to 2.2 per cent. It has an active cleansing technology that increases durability as well as performance.
In collaboration with Gordon Murray design, Shell used a 0W-10 concept oil for tests with its lightweight urban car, the T.25. With 0W-10 the Gordon Murray designed city vehicle achieved a six point five per cent reduction in urban driving-cycle fuel consumption.
[asset_ref id=”1184″] The T.25
* Shell also used the Rimula R6 LME lubricant in its collaboration with Daimler, which tested its FuelSave Diesel with the Mercedes-Benz Actros in 2008. In perfect conditions it set a new world record for fuel efficiency used just over 19 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres.
The FuelSave result also used a FMS from IBM. This managed the automatic calculation of CO2 emissions and vehicle fuel consumption under varying conditions.
Shell to clean up existing tech with collaboration
Shell used the Challenge Bibendum conference to identify its goal to find new ways to improve the fuel economy and cleanliness of fuels and engines by innovating existing technology platforms with OEMs.
It reckons that co-engineering partnerships, where fuels, lubricants and vehicles are developed in collaboration will be the key to uncovering efficiencies.
Tan Chong Meng, executive vice president of Shell’s global commercial business, said: “We believe that one of the best and fastest way to improve fuel economy and therefore lower CO2 emissions from conventional fuels is [for Shell] to work more closely with original equipment manufacturers.
“We need a more cohesive approach between the development of new vehicle technologies and engines and the development of new grade fuels and lubricants. That closer collaboration will, we believe, introduce innovation, sustain performance and make gains in driveability.”
Shell reckons that by 2050, two-thirds of vehicles are still likely to use current engine technologies and conventional liquid fuels. The consensus at the sustainable mobility conference was that even if by 2030 a quarter of cars sold run on alternative fuels, that will still mean only 1 per cent of cars on the road.
Shell delivers oil carton savings
Shell Lubricants was named supplier of the year for sustainability by Walmart for the development and utilisation of the Ecobox system, which uses cardboard as a green alternative for packaging motor oil.
The Ecobox carton leaves minimal residual oil behind, and reduces plastic and oil from the waste stream.
It also improved processing speed in the Walmart’s Tire & Lube Express locations.
