Volvo FH with I-Save – Fuel economy winner in several tests

In several independent tests performed by German trucker magazines, the
Volvo FH with I-Save was the fuel economy winner when looking at the
combination of diesel and AdBlue consumption, even though the tested
truck lacked Volvo’s very latest fuel efficiency updates.

Today the cost of fuel is more in focus than ever for haulers. Not only has the price of diesel gone through the roof recently but many transport companies are also suffering from AdBlue prices that have more than doubled.

“When investing in a new truck, it’s more important than ever to look closely at the trucks’ total energy consumption,” says Peter Franzén, Product Manager Engines at Volvo Trucks.

Fuel economy winner in multiple tests

The independent German magazines “Trucker” and “Transport” recently tested the Volvo FH 500 with I-Save against other major European competitors’ trucks. The Volvo came out as the winner in both tests on fuel economy, looking at the total consumption of diesel and AdBlue. Despite the low consumption, the Volvo truck also held a very high average speed in the trucker test and in Transport magazine’s test it even beat the competitors on speed.

“Our engineers have managed to combine high speed with a very low fuel consumption, which is a fantastic achievement. You often have to choose one or the other, but we have proven that you can combine economy and performance,” explains Peter Franzén. “Even more impressive is that we managed to be best on fuel economy in both tests, even though the truck tested didn’t have our latest fuel updates that will lower the fuel consumption by a few more percentage points!”

New improvements save up to 13% on total fuel costs

The tested Volvo FH had the I-Save specification, which is a variant that combines different driveline and software features to improve the fuel economy as much as possible. The heart of I-Save is the turbo compound engine, which makes it possible to drive with low engine revs and high gears for longer periods of time. With the recently launched refinements, I-Save cumulatively can add up to a 13% improvement in fuel economy – compared to consumption levels when it was introduced in 2019.

“In order to improve fuel efficiency, we have now taken our Volvo FH with I-Save one step further to ensure full optimization of the engine. Considering the historically high energy prices we now have, the timing couldn´t be better,” concludes Peter Franzén.

Facts about the new fuel economy updates

The engines’ combustion process has been further improved by adapting the injectors, compression and camshaft specifically to the refined and unique new wave-patterned pistons. The overall weight and internal friction have also been reduced. The high-performance turbo charger and oil pump have been upgraded and even the oil, fuel and air filters have patented refinements to get better performance.

The updated engine is working together with the intelligent and automated I-Shift gearbox that is now up to 30% faster. The quicker response contributes to further improve the fuel economy, driveability and smoothness of the driving.

I-Torque is a new, smart torque software that increases energy efficiency by analyzing the upcoming road topography data using the I-See function and adapting the driving to the actual route. I-See uses information about the planned route to take advantage of the truck’s kinetic energy in the best possible way when driving on hilly terrain. The new I-Torque software optimizes both gear selection and engine torque. The function looks at the road ahead and evaluates the topography and the weight of the vehicle – to decide exactly how much torque the engine needs and when, to run with the absolute highest fuel efficiency possible.

When driving long distances, the truck’s aerodynamics play an important role for fuel economy. Therefore several key changes to improve air flow have also been made, including tighter gaps on the front of the cab and a longer door extension.

All of these improvements add up to deliver the highest fuel economy and lowest total costs ever achieved by Volvo Trucks. It will be interesting to see how Volvo will manage to improve the result even further in coming trade press tests.