Platts has some interesting information on what’s happening with the proposed implementation of Euro 4M fuel standards for both petrol and diesel in Malaysia.
Last we heard, Euro 4M was supposed to be implemented this year, but in reality the phrase “implemented” doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to be fueling our 320d and Focus TDCI at the pump with much cleaner diesel this year.
According to a Platts newspiece last week quoting a Malaysian government official, a draft proposal for Euro 4M compliant petrol and diesel is expected to be ready for cabinet approval by Q2 2011, following a discussion in November last year on what exactly Euro 4M specifications should be.
You may be wondering what the M in Euro 4M or even the current Euro 2M standards mean. There’s no official definition that I can find on what exactly the letter M stands for but what we know for sure is that Euro 2M and Euro 4M are localized versions of the Euro 2 and Euro 4 specifications. The specifications are definitely not 100% the same. I’m sure all of us are wondering what this implies.
You see the 320d everywhere these days – BMW has done well with diesel advocacy
Sometime last year, we attended a technical briefing by Caltex on their Techron fuel and a Chevron Senior Product Engineering Specialist was there – Mr Greg Engeler. According to Mr Engeler, every country in this region with the exception of Hong Kong has modified the specifications of the Euro spec fuel they are selling in their countries.
Malaysian climate, temperature and environment is different from Europe, so if Euro specifications are followed to the dot, it would be a waste of money refining the fuel to those specs. Instead, what the policymakers have done here in consultation with the fuel companies is pick and choose certain ‘enablers’ from the full Euro specs, such as sulphur content. According to Mr Engeler, it made sense for Hong Kong to just use Euro spec fuel as they do not have any refineries. This fact has helped Hong Kong be the first country in Asia to introduce ultra low sulphur diesel with 50ppm of sulphur content back in 2000.
But still, the Platts story has some other facts – allegedly the oil industry has proposed a 3.5% limit (down from the current 5%) for benzene content in petrol for the new standard, despite Euro specs calling for 1% benzene content since Euro 3. It seems that refining petrol down to 1% maximum benzene content is too costly. Benzene is also an anti-knock agent and it would be easier for the oil companies to engineer the petrol to have a good octane rating with the help of more benzene content instead of other methods and ingredients.
The Euro 2M diesel has brought awesome cars like the Ford Focus TDCI into Malaysia!
The Platts report also alleges that the proposed Euro 4M standards are silent on other specs such as aromatics and olefins for petrol and cetane number for diesel. Apparently the Euro 4M standard was proposed by Malaysia’s Department of Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and defining those figures fall outside the jurisdiction of the department. Who sets the remaining specifications?
But this may not be a cause for concern at all as the same story says the government intends 100% for Euro 4M to approach a similar quality to Euro 4 fuels. The all important “sulphur content” enabler in the proposed Euro 4M standards has been specified to be 50ppm in both petrol and diesel, which is in line with Euro 4 standards. The current Euro 2M standards call for 500ppm, the same as Euro 2. Euro 5 has brought the limit even lower to 10ppm.
If and when Euro 4M is officially announced possibly by the end of this year, the oil companies will be given a 5 year grace period to implement the new fuel at the pumps, as apparently they can only start work on the refineries once the government has announced something solid. If this is the case, who knows when the first Euro 4M fuels will appear at the pump. It could take up to until 2012/2013 or up to 2016, worst case scenario!
Something else that we – or rather diesel vehicle owners – will have to watch out for is the introduction of B5 biodiesel mix at the pumps. B5 is essentially 95% regular diesel and 5% palm oil biodiesel. Last we heard from Caltex, the date for this implementation is June 2011. According to Caltex’s Mr Engeler, all diesel engines should theoretically be able to run B5 without issues. It’s only the higher biodiesel mixes which need reengineering.
Fuel economy such as this is no drama for turbodiesels even in a large sedan like a Merc E-Class – with the introduction of better diesel, hopefully more Malaysians will embrace cars like the Ford Focus TDCI and the BMW 320d/520d/730Ld
Biodiesel also tends to wax and thicken in cold climates but none of that is a problem in Malaysia. He did say that in reality, B0 (pure diesel) produces less NOX emissions compared to B5 although other types of emissions are typically lower, and B5 also tends to foam more. B5 also technically has less energy content compared to pure diesel but I don’t think the difference is one that is very noticeable.
In Malaysia, Sime Darby plantation have already started using their own blend of biodiesel called Bio-N (pronounced “Beyond”) in their upstream operation vehicles since March 2008. Bio-N started off as B5 but in some locations, Sime Darby are using blends of up to B10, which uses 10% palm biodiesel. In total, Sime Darby uses about 100 metric tons of pure biodiesel every year to blend with regular diesel into Bio-N for its upstream vehicles.
If you look after the jump, you’ll find an embedded PDF document released by the government of Australia on its position on biodiesel blends such as B5 up to even B20, which is generally the accepted limit before diesel engines and fuel systems start to get wonky. It’s a very good read.
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From what I understand… the ‘M’ stands for ‘Modified’.
It’s really great news for motorist and the car industry… Not to mention the environment.
for “E4M” stand for Malaysia version…India Bharat 4 equivalent to E4
M stands for Mamak lah.., on a serious note, late is better than never, 4M is better than 2M.
nope…
it was simply M=malaysia
euro 2Malaysia spec.
or this coming euro 4Malaysia spec.
M is for Malaysia – Euro 2 Malaysia version. By the way I’m from the oil and gas industry and was part of the implementation team for Euro 2M. And I’m also involved in the B5 (biodiesel) project. Thanks.
Its good to hope for better fuel in the future. Problem is, as long as Proton’s can run efficently on the current fuel standard, whatever it is, the government has little incentive to go to a higher fuel quality. Also, most people owning cars which need better fuel have fuel stations which cater to them as most of these stations are situated on the west coast peninsular.
I think we can dream, but if anything up to 5 years, then I am not sure that even by 2020 (where supposedly Malaysia becomes 1st world country) we will get better fuel quality if the cost is just high.
Right now only BMW wants better quality diesel-so still can KIV on better fuel quality. Wait until Mercedes, Beemer, and VW say that our cars can no longer run on petrol and diesel in Malaysia, then surely we will see an upgrade :P
i don think so..coz if proton want to go worldwide they should n must follow the industry trend rite…its stupid to sell car that not comply with E4 or E5 in Europe nowadays or even in India that they want to enter..then all the engine made must be E4/5 standard by p1..not practical to built same engine with diff quality..diff engine diff quality is ok..but not same engine diff quality..quality of fuel compliance i mean..my own opinion la kan……
“currently in bashing mode to make less blind supporter(said by some)- KZM”
I agree there Proton will benefit if their engine needs better fuel. They will benefit even more if the engine can run on all kinds of fuel. Euro 2M or Euro 4M. Just that at Euro 2M engine will not give maximum output. We have already seen that when the government announced the RON 97 and 95, and 92 (correct me if wrong on RON 92 here) a lot of petrol stations stat of with equal amounts of 97, 95. Now the petrol station where I live only has one RON 97 pump, the rest being lower grade. People will go for the cheaper fuel as there is little benefit in using higher quality fuel
i don really care bout RON97.even if there RON100 n i will use lowest available fuel my car can support…i don drive performance car or luxury car anyway but higher fuel standard from E2(RON95) to E4(RON95) is better..maybe E4(RON95) better than E2(RON97) i guess…
A lot of people are like you. I do it too. On longer journeys (not urban stop-start) I will get the V-Power if available or higher RON. V-Power is a lot more economical on longer journeys cause your engine run at slightly lower RPM to achieve the same speed so you technically get more fuel per KM. But then, I’m heavy footed. A normal person could get the new Honda Accord from KB-KL on one tank, I need two tanks because I just enjoy the EWHW too much to care. :P
Finally…….M moving forward but i guess ini Barang Naik harga…….
Yahoo!!! Bio Diesel is here! Bravo Caltex!!!
What i know is the commonrail direct injection diesel engine not suitable for bio diesel… is that true?
easy just google for answer…from wat i goog n read most all diesel engine can run biodiesel with until B10 without re-engineering
Alamak whenever I see that fuel/wallet meter, I think of fuel hike. Anyway, I think it’s just around the corner. Probably right after the 2 elections.
we malaysian don’t mind what standard of fuel (4m etc) as well as the they don’t hike the fuel price, or maybe the price will go down after this implementation???
how can that be?..since to refine to E4 cost higher than E2 process n it was explain in the article above…wat i can see fuel price up but more quality car coming in..
saving up for the new ford focus tdci. hope they’ll bring it to malaysia (soon). :)
ford focus tdci is already in malaysia rite?
i was referring to the 2011 ford focus. don’t know whether they will have a tdci version or not. but they should!!hope this clears the air..cheers!!
yeap…they have the 1.6tdci too…and even a 1.6 turbo petrol (ecoboost)
This is good news, but 5 years grace period is waaay to long!.. If there is no stick, the donkey won’t move! Force the industry to provide 4M within a year by hook or crook, then I am sure they will find a way to comply to that.
I like diesel~~
hopefully Malaysia can import some cheaper diesel car ~~~
gud for us and oso our machine. caltex always a way ahead for clean fuel, two thumbs up!!
How much will be the price once the petrol is available in the market, will the government subsidized.
5 years…oh well…maybe they think 5 years is a very short period….if they wanna give time…I think 3 years should be the max….
at the end for Malaysia,better late than nothing….
The government does not want us to use diesel. Because if we use diesel, it would half our cost because diesel gives nearly double the mileage. So, the avegae Malaysian paying RM100 per month will now pay RM50 per month
Who will lose?
1) Petronas. People will be filling up less cause they are getting the same milage.
2) Petroleum companies like Caltex, Exxon, Shell, Mobil will sell less petrol thus paying lesser tax to the government in sales and company tax.
Trust me, the government wants us to use more petrol for their own benefit. Euro 4 will take years before its actually implemented so that the current government can fill up their pockets further
dont they especially gov n petronas benefit more from that..since(if) less bolehland people use less Petronas can export more with higher price (since Malaysia “Tapis crude oil” is sweet oil) n the gov need not to subsidized all fuel(half maybe)..so more money to gov that good rite
FuelSave Disel B5:
29.69
V-Power Diesel:
33.18
Above is Thailand diesel price at about RM3.00 and RM3.40 respectively compared to ours: RM1.75. But, the comparison is irrelevant since our diesel is much much polluted. As if we compared between apple/Fuji apple and rotten apple/small apple.
Wonder why, government doesn’t want to use their power to make oil companies comply with cleaner and newer diesel sooner.
Though diesel price is more costly for Thailand, but don’t forget one full tank of diesel in Ford Focus and 320d can gives you 900-1200km kind of mileage.
how that can be?…wat i just read Thai will implement E4 in Jan. 1, 2012..they in the process of planning since 2009 that almost 2yrs ago…
While we r still Euro 2… Malu… Even India already have Euro4 standart in a few cities..
Oh what a tangled web we weave… Again its Mr. Green BMW who needs a cleaner fuel and more efficient diesel so they could sell more pointless X6s. Ironic is an understatement. Where’s the economic multiplier effect? Where is that heading when we know we’re going hybrid and eventually electric? Put more money into buying European refinery Process Licenses to help save Greece?
They are the laggers in downsizing their engines. It’s a threat to their USPs and they won’t sacrifice the American market. So they burden emerging markets to adopt them. Why don’t they shove that piece down the Americans who keep buying trucks and SUVs.
If anything to learn from the Europeans is that we should not deepen our debts to 90% of our GDP. Our savings are their cravings.
As an ordinary joe, i’m basically clueless of all the euros and numbers mentioned. All i understand is the standards will be getting better, right? As long as in the future, my dream of getting the 320d m-sport with no probs with regards to the pump deisel here, then its fine la…
yes…fiesta econetic 1.6 diesel pls…
more frugal than a prius…fiesta diesel econetic FC below 4 liter/100km
sounds great man…. hope it wii be ‘affordable’…..
For the man on the street it simply means more mileage at cheaper cost meaning more money in the pockets.
This i will support all the way.
If we can only see the use of Euro 4M in 5 years time, what engines will Europe be churning out then, Euro 8? 9? 10?
bobdbilder, it’s only BMW pushing for it here cuz other car manufacturers have not dared bring in their modern turbo diesel models (except Ford, by a GLC). The others have much smaller and cleaner engines and if they were available, would make the hybrids we have now pointless.
in 5 yrs time most probably they running on E6 compliance engine..3 yrs from now they will use E6(September 2014) not E8or E9 or E10 and maybe in 2019 they will use E7 based on their cycle of 4-5 yrs trend bet Euro type emission..so E8 maybe 10-15 yrs later from now
The point is we’re always gonna lag behind so the Euro marques may not want to push their current (future new) models here. That is eg, if our E4M is not suitable for E6-standard engines. And so we will maybe just get a smattering of models like only 320d and Focus like now, with other makers holding back.
not just we..almost most rest of the world lagging behind europe..some follow faster some very slow..the important thing that its their system we follow..obviously they get first
With this, palm oil planters gonna get rich 2 times more 5 years ahead.
Better start your own palm estate now.
Trust me.
Heh why do you think the only two companies pushing diesel cars in Malaysia are Sime Darby linked? Sime Darby is the biggest palm oil player. SDAC sells Ford and SD owns 49% of BMW Malaysia and they also run Auto Bavaria.
Still, whatever the motive is, consumers get to enjoy diesel power.
yeap…BMW & Ford…….and don’t forget hyundai re-known starex & santa fe diesel….good FC with huge torqey engine….brought to u by Hyundai “Sime Darby”, the largest plantation co in msia
Hayy,…guys I was informed that Petrol Ron 97 increase by 25 sen today betul ke ??? Anyone ……..
Peace
This spells trouble for Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. These oil burners are even more efficient than both. Wait till VW intoduces the golf and polo blue motion, whatever magical numbers honda and toyota produces will be irrelevant anymore not to mention lower co2 figures…….
Last weekend I test drove the Focus TDCi and it was such a hair raising surprising experience for someone who used to drive boring jap models. If now using the E 2 is already powerful enough what will happen when we pump in the E 4 ? If the same , which means the TDCi performs as per its specs and as per the products in Europe( now using E4,) then why the fuss .
BTW on the TDCi test drive , which may end up with my son booking one over the Inspira , my only complaint is on the front seats which is narrow and does not provide enough thigh support causing one to slide away during powerful turns, what a damper.If they want to save cost , even installing Persona designed seats would be a good alternative
I guess it’s touch and go with E2, it’s just about enough to run properly, actually the 320d is producing the exact same on the dyno as it is on the specs list, Paul did make a post on that.
What it means is the engines are able to run on E2 without having to detune it, but this is BMW who may have had the time and resource to test their engine fully.
Other car makers don’t and so prefer to avoid it altogether rather than deal with the warranty issues and wait until the fuel grade reaches a level where they know for sure it’s ok for the engine
i drive a diesel 4wd and the torque is simply addictive! you get a 400 + nm kind of shove and there is no going back to the small petrol engines. the euro4m spec shall definitely give us diesel converts a bigger smile each time.
i think the issue for malaysia is the current trucks and buses. those who own these shall now need to pay a higher price for the new diesel. question is, are they willing to pay the new rates? i doubt these guys (their owners, i mean) are willing to fork out more for the benefits. just look at the state of the trucks, buses, lorry hantu, pickups etc – they are minimally maintained that any increased in running costs will most likely be opposed. wait for their ‘persatuan’ etc…
so perhaps there will be two diesel specs on the market. euro4m for the 320d crowd and the old euro2m for the lorry hantu. but of course this will be nearly impossible. pump operators need to invest in a new delivery infrastructure to cater to the 2 different diesels.
it will be interesting to see how this develops. i’d say we should just do with euro4m and let those who want to blend with bio do it themselves. that will give growth to a new ‘cottage’ industry altogether.
cheers
About prices, there shouldnt be any increment since companies in malaysia has long been producing euro 4 grade diesels for export. Both Petronas and Exxonmobil have plants capable of Euro 5(insider source) and should have no difficulty getting the malaysian spec euro4 into the market quickly. The only matter concerning price is whether if our already tax rich government wants more…… In europe price did not chang when euro 3 became 4 and on wards, so that case should be reflected in our diesel… according to world fuel price and not whims and fancies of the G
Waiting for VW GOLF GTD……
me waiting for Q7 V12 TDi… LOL
Will the price by higher and will that affect fishermen’s boats as well as bus operators using diesel?
Talk talk only, until now nothing happen……… anybody have problem of using malaysian diesel on Q7 TDI 3.0?
till now still quite… wondering if the implementation process is stil on goin?
yes = is the revised NAP going to say something about Euro V diesel ?