Global commercial vehicle giant MAN presented customer-driven transportation solutions with the new Euro 6 emission standard and its new TG range of vehicles at IAA 2012 in Hannover.
The company also showcased the EfficientLine coach which saves up to 12 tons of CO2 per year, an emission-free electric truck for city centres and an aerodynamically-optimized Concept S semitrailer tractor with 25 per cent less fuel consumption.
With emission standards and fuel efficiency being key aspects of the show, the MAN pavilion had a line-up of highly fuel-efficient vehicles and concepts which caught the industry’s attention.
The world’s largest automotive exhibition of its kind, the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2012 in Hanover revolved around the introduction of the Euro 6 emission standard. As could be inferred from the products and technologies on display, the new MAN vehicles will be virtually free of pollutants but will nevertheless use no more fuel than their particularly economical Euro 5 predecessors. MAN has also been able to reduce fuel consumption of its city buses even further. The Euro 6 technology was also presented for natural gas and biogas buses at IAA for the first time.
From January 1, 2014, all new trucks and buses registered in Europe must fulfill the Euro 6 emission standard. Compared with Euro 5, nitrogen oxide has to be cut by 80 per cent to 0.4 g/kWh and particle mass has to be reduced by over 90 per cent.
The new TG trucks with Euro 6 enables MAN to offer its customers an even bigger advantage over its competitors when it comes to load capacity. Furthermore, the interior of the vehicles in the light and medium truck series has been completely revamped to boost comfort, safety, and effectiveness.
Cost-effectiveness is also at the centre of the MAN Lion’s Coach EfficientLine, which continues the successful concept of the MAN TGX EfficientLine truck. More than 11,000 of these long-haul trucks were sold in 20 months. The reduction in fuel consumption by around three litres or up to ten per cent with the full range of features has been particularly appealing to customers. Every TGX EfficientLine that replaces a conventional long-haul truck saves up to 4,500 litres of diesel or 12 tons of CO2 per year.
Similarly, the MAN Lion’s Coach EfficientLine enables the company to offer a bus model that ideally combines all the key factors in terms of technology, driver information, instruction, and training, as well as selected services. Comparative test drives for typical coach use have proven the effectiveness of the entire package – the potential for saving fuel is roughly on a par with that of the MAN TGX EfficientLine. This results in a very low total cost of ownership per kilometer and thus also low CO2 emissions per passenger km. At around 12 grams per passenger km at full capacity or around 23 grams at 50 per cent capacity, the coach is by far the best means of transportation with the most favourable CO2 value per head.
Another attraction was the fresh look of the MAN vehicles. The front of the trucks and buses are now even more striking with a new product logo featuring the lion that embodies the tradition and performance of the brand.
A new premium vehicle also made its debut in the form of the NEOPLAN Jetliner, which is ideal for both scheduled services and for use as a coach. It combines the genuine comfort of a coach with more luggage space, enabling it to be used as a dual earner throughout the entire week. MAN’s Metropolis now makes travelling in the city center electrically with a heavy truck possible. The hybrid research vehicle carries out heavy transportation duties in the city free of emissions and particularly quietly.
Using renewably produced electricity from electrical outlets, the MAN Metropolis can cover routes without emitting any CO2. The modular lithium-ion battery can be charged simply and easily at an electrical outlet thanks to its plug-in function. An efficient and quiet passenger car diesel engine from the Volkswagen Group ensures that electricity can be generated on board if required and guarantees the reach of the heavy truck. The bird-view system with camera images around the vehicle is also unique and offers a particularly high level of safety.
In order to investigate the vehicle concept suitability in everyday life and the cost-effective feasibility, MAN has chosen one of the hardest uses for a heavy truck in an urban environment: the Metropolis is being used as a refuse collection vehicle by the international environmental service provider SUEZ Environment in the Antwerp-Brussels region for around two years.
Another special innovation from MAN is the Concept S truck study which enables fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of a diesel truck to be cut by 25 per cent while loading capacity stays the same. The concept for semitrailer tractors is primarily in improving the aerodynamics of the entire tractor-trailer combination by harmonizing the design of the tractor and the trailer and through high-tech measures that further cut fuel consumption, such as powering auxiliary systems electrically. The Concept S was presented in its complete combination for the first time at IAA.