Chairman’s Report
Andrew Goddard, Chairman, Verification of Lubricant Specifications
This year VLS has seen a growing number of claims made against 5w30 automotive engine oil. Although marketing claims for non-approved products are accepted by both industry and end user alike, they must be supported by relevant technical data and backed by the technology provider.
This trend to increase the number of marketing claims made against products comes ahead of the mandatory switch from ACEA 2012 to ACEA 2016 for all claims which is due in December 2018. So if ACEA 2016 is not driving this trend, what is?
A few years ago ACEA was the gold standard for engine oils, superseding in Europe at least API as the benchmark for lubricant quality by producing relevant, timely and detailed requirements for engine oils that matched the technological developments of engines, and regulatory requirements for lower emissions.
Recently we have seen ACEA move from being the benchmark for quality to become today what could be a minimum entry point. Today many original equipment manufacturers require their own engine oil formulations that use ACEA as a baseline. Visit any reputable distributor and you will witness different lubricant variations; ACEA C3 GM for Vauxhall or General Motors vehicles, ACEA C3 for VW vehicles or Ford and so on.
As OEM technology has become more advanced so too has the need to deliver ever more exact lubricant formulations that take account of specific engine requirements that vary between manufacturer. Now some market general products claim to meet multiple manufacturer requirements although the trend to display a single manufacturer brand on the front of the pack is still very much in evidence.
56 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.146 AUGUST 2018
For the aftermarket this poses a problem. Faced with limited workshop or service space the pressure on main dealers, multi franchise outlets or workshops to rationalise stockholding is
always very high. The fewer brands that can cater for multiple OEM requirements must have an advantage in the marketplace versus the need to stock multiple variants of products for every single OEM.
s that can cater for
Herein lies the issue. Faced with this challenge for OEMs to require their own specific formulation on one hand and for the service fill market to rationalise stock holding on the other, poses a particular problem. For some lubricant marketers expanding the number of OEM applications that a product might be suitable for use provides the answer, but if and only if these claims can be supported by the appropriate technical evidence.
Finally I was interested to read of a recent International Climate convention in New Zealand attracting 120 scientists from 59 countries which concluded that electric vehicles could be a major source of CO2
when taking into account the
manufacture of lithium batteries which produces 150 to 200 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt hour of storage. So a new Nissan Leaf would account for 5.3 tonnes of CO2
at the point of sale and a Tesla
Model S, 17.5 tonnes. Scientists concluded that EVs alone would not solve the climate change problem.
LINK
www.ukla-vls.org.uk
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