Portrait
The EU-wide climate targets include a cross-fleet limit value of 95 g/km of maximum CO2 emissions for each passenger car manufacturer. This value must be complied with at the beginning of 2021, otherwise fines could be imposed. With a current average of approx. 120 g/km, manufacturers are still a long way from achieving this goal.
Car manufacturers are therefore increasingly opting for partial or full electrification of the vehicle drive, but also for optimisation of the engine oils used.
Low-viscosity engine oils are used to reduce the internal friction in the engine. For some manufacturers, the SAE viscosity 0W-20 in first fill has already replaced the usual viscosities SAE 5W-30 and SAE 0W-30. For the year 2020, a market share of more than 10% is already forecast for these low viscosity motor oils. ACEA has responded to this trend with a new engine oil specification - ACEA C5.
While the motor oils of viscosity class SAE 5W-30 in specification ACEA C3 were still usable for older vehicles up to a year of manufacture at the end of the 1990s, the new oils of viscosity classes SAE 0W-20 and SAE 5W-20 are not backwards compatible. In order to keep the oil consumption of these thin engine oils low, vehicle manufacturers demand strict values for evaporation losses. However, this is only ensured by using PAO as the base oil. This results in an increase in demand for Group IV oils of 300% in the course of the 2010s. To this end, global production capacity must be adjusted to avoid bottlenecks.
Car manufacturers are therefore increasingly opting for partial or full electrification of the vehicle drive, but also for optimisation of the engine oils used.
Low-viscosity engine oils are used to reduce the internal friction in the engine. For some manufacturers, the SAE viscosity 0W-20 in first fill has already replaced the usual viscosities SAE 5W-30 and SAE 0W-30. For the year 2020, a market share of more than 10% is already forecast for these low viscosity motor oils. ACEA has responded to this trend with a new engine oil specification - ACEA C5.
While the motor oils of viscosity class SAE 5W-30 in specification ACEA C3 were still usable for older vehicles up to a year of manufacture at the end of the 1990s, the new oils of viscosity classes SAE 0W-20 and SAE 5W-20 are not backwards compatible. In order to keep the oil consumption of these thin engine oils low, vehicle manufacturers demand strict values for evaporation losses. However, this is only ensured by using PAO as the base oil. This results in an increase in demand for Group IV oils of 300% in the course of the 2010s. To this end, global production capacity must be adjusted to avoid bottlenecks.
Back to top
