Volvo's passenger car division is probably about to nail the coffin of the diesel engine shut, but that doesn't mean the devil's juice is completely dead at the Swedish brand. For the time being, trucks cannot do without the diesel engine and that is why car brands continue to innovate. For example, Volvo managed to make the diesel engine for the new VNL truck another 10 percent more efficient with some interesting adjustments.
In 2016, Volvo introduced a new type of piston for truck diesel. Instead of a smooth interior, Volvo's pistons have bulges. The brand itself calls this 'waves'. In Jip-and-Janneke language: apparently normal oxygen remains unused in the engine and one flame 'steals' the oxygen from the other flame. By directing the explosion better with the waves, all the oxygen is used and the engine runs more efficiently. The video at the bottom of the page explains it a little better.
On the left a normal piston, on the right a golf piston from Volvo | Photo: © Volvo
In the US, Volvo only pulled the curtain on the new VNL truck, this is a torpedo nose model that you won't see here anytime soon, unfortunately. One of the improvements is that the pistons of the 13-liter straight-six diesel engine do not have six bulges, but seven. And more is always better. In addition, the piston is not as high and the connecting rod is a bit longer, but you can quickly forget that. New for the US, because in the Netherlands the so-called D13 engines already had this adjustment.
As much CO2 reduction as 30,000 electric trucks
With other adjustments to aerodynamics and internal friction, they improved the VNL's diesel consumption by as much as 10 percent. If you consider how much a truck drives in a year, a company will see that reflected in its annual accounts. If 300,000 trucks were to save 10 percent on diesel, this would be equivalent to the CO2 reduction of 30,000 electric trucks, Volvo explains.
In the Netherlands, the D13 engine is also supplied by Volvo and since 2022 they have had seven waves on the piston instead of six. Volvo also recently introduced the new FH Aero in the Netherlands, whose cabin is 24 centimeters longer for better aerodynamics. It would be really cool if someone brought a VNL to the Netherlands.
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