Environmental concerns were at the forefront of Daf's presence at the CV Show thius year. In particular, there were 7.5-tonne and eight-wheeler chassis featuring EEV, an additional particulate filter. Informally referred to as Euro-5.5, the EEV concept, which reduces particulates by 50% over Euro-5, was conceived to work with gas-fuelled engines at Euro-2.
Daf has chosen the eight-wheeler to showcase EEV as the vehicle best suited to work on Olympic construction contracts within the London LEZ. The EEV particulate trap is also easier to fit to a rigid chassis than a 6x2 tractor and on an 8x4 chassis effectively resembles a double-width upright exhaust.
At 7.5 tonnes, the Daf 160hp SCR engines can meet EEV standards without a specific particulate filter and, consequently, there is no price premium. For larger chassis, EEV adds around £4,000 to the cost - a reason why many operators would like to see such benchmarks made a statutory requirement to create a 'level playing field' for competition.
In addition to EEV, Daf is also developing dual-fuel vehicles, and currently has seven diesel-electric hybrids on trial with UK operators. These are likely to go into volume production within two years, and EEV can be combined with battery power to reduce emissions even further.