International Truck and Engine Corp. today announced that its MaxxForce diesel engines will meet U.S. EPA 2010 emission regulations for “all its core applications” without selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, which requires the use of urea.
The MaxxForce line of 4.5-, 11- and 13-liter engines was developed by International in partnership with Germany’s MAN Nutzfahrezeuge AG.
Rather than deploy SCR, International said it intends to meet the stricter 2010 rules through advanced fuel system, air management, combustion and controls. And the OEM stated that “no incremental NOx aftertreatment beyond the current technology will be required on any core International on-highway application in 2010.”
Daniel Ustian, chairman, president & CEO of Navistar, International’s parent, stressed that all MaxxForce on-highway diesel engines will be fully certified to the 2010 emission standards. “I have publicly been an advocate of customer-friendly emissions control solutions which do not add additional costs to our truck and bus customers,” he said. “While SCR is a means to achieve the NOx reduction requirement for 2010, it comes with a steep cost to our customers.”
Ustian noted that International spent years studying and evaluating SCR. While he said International’s research found SCR to be a way to effectively meet 2010 emissions standards, it “adds to the cost and complexity of use of commercial vehicles for truck and bus fleet operators.”
“Coming so soon after 2007 EPA standards, which mandated new engines and after-treatment systems that drove up the price of commercial vehicles, [we wanted] 2010 to be a less taxing time for our customers,” added Jack Allen, president of International’s Engine Group.
To date, the heavy-duty diesel engine market is evenly split between manufacturers expected to use SCR in 2010 and those which are not. International joins Cummins Engine Co. in foregoing SCR for its 2010 heavy-duty engines while Volvo Powertrain (which supplies engines to Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks) and Detroit Diesel Corp. plan to incorporate SCR technology into their 2010 engines.
