Mercedes investing $4.7b in new engines

MERCEDES-BENZ'S new family of diesel engines is already earning its keep, with an initial round of independent testing finding that the four-cylinder is capable of producing far fewer oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than required for the imminent 2017 Real Driving Emissions (RDE) tests.

The new line-up of diesels is part of a €3b ($A4.7b) of investment in the future of internal combustion for Mercedes, with the development of both existing and new engine ranges set to continue, according to the German car-maker.

Daimler board of management member for group research and Mercedes-Benz Cars development Thomas Weber took a swipe at the winded Volkswagen Group, which mislead customers and independent testing authorities with technology that deliberately side-stepped the scrutiny of emissions, while putting faith in combustion power for the future.

“Our customers’ trust is very important to us and we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously,” he said.

“That’s why we decided five years ago to invest massively in the further development of diesel technology. But we are also continuously making our gasoline engines more efficient and more environment-friendly because high-tech combustion engines will remain the backbone of individual mobility until the widespread market success of electric vehicles.

“For this reason, we are investing a total of about three billion euros to ensure further improvements in fuel consumption and emissions – in both future and current vehicles.”

Codenamed OM 654, the new diesel will debut under the bonnet of the new E220d large luxury sedan and wagon, and initial testing by independent vehicle inspector DEKRA has found that the engine sails far below the new and more realistic-test limit of 80mg/km.

Left: The Mercedes-Benz OM 654 diesel engine.

“In some cases, the NOx emissions were at the very low level of between just 13 and 21mg/km even at low ambient temperatures,” said Mercedes in an official release.

The modular diesel engine with new selective catalytic reduction technology (SCR) will power all diesel passenger models and vans by 2019.

The alloy-block diesel range is the newest powerplant addition to the Mercedes stable but the car-maker is just as committed to refining its existing range of petrol and diesel engines, it says.

Advances in forced induction, fuel injection, exhaust gas recirculation and engine management systems will continue to make the existing engine line-up more efficient and fuel economical, and the company is even offering some customers a software update that will program their vehicles with the latest and best engine management software.

Petrol engines will also receive progressive updates in new models with particulate filter hardware, similar to those fitted to many diesel engines, gradually rolled out to all new models, starting with the S-Class flagship luxury sedan.