THE Department of Energy (DOE) has tapped Petron Corp. as its fuel partner in the first economy run in the country using cleaner and more efficient Euro 4 fuels.
The results of the economy run, to be held on May 27, will be used by the DOE as a benchmark for fuel-efficiency labeling. This will soon be required of all car manufacturers and importers.
“The event aims to provide vital information on the fuel-economy rating performance of vehicles that will guide drivers and operators in the operation and maintenance of vehicles,” Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said.
To date, only air-conditioners, split-type air-conditioning systems, refrigerators with 5-cubic-foot to 8-cubic-foot storage capacity, three types of fluorescent lamp and electrical ballasts are required to have an energy-efficiency rating.
“Two things would be achieved here. One is to show how efficient our fuel is. The other is to ultimately be able to establish what are the fuel- economy efficiency of the vehicles that are going to participate in the fuel-economy run,” Petron General Manager Lubin Nepomuceno said.
Nearly 80 vehicles nominated by 20 car manufacturers and importers will participate in the event, which will begin at 12:01 a.m. on May 27 at the Petron Clark Station in Angeles City, Pampanga, to Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) via Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and then back to TPLEx northbound and to Petron Clark station as the final destination.
Participating car companies include Pilipinas Taj Autogroup Inc. (Tata Motors), Isuzu Philippines Corp., Nissan Philippines Inc., Volvo Philippines, Toyota Motors Philippines Corp., Suzuki Philippines Inc., Ford Group Philippines, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., Honda Philippines Inc., Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and British United Automobiles Inc. (Mini).
Car distributors, such as Eurobrands (Peugeot), Automobile Central Enterprise (Volkswagen), PGA Cars (Audi, Porsche), Motor Image Philippines (Subaru) and Columbian Autocar Corp. (KIA), will also participate in the country’s first Euro 4 economy run.
The benchmark for fuel-efficiency labeling would be out after the DOE concludes public consultations with concerned industry stakeholders, Monsada said.
Petron was the first to introduce a full lineup of locally produced Euro 4-standard fuels, a year ahead of the DOE’s 2016 mandate. Its four Euro 4 gasoline variants—Blaze 100 Euro 4 (RON 100) XCS (RON 95), Xtra Advance (RON 93), and Super Xtra (RON 91)—and two diesel variants—Turbo Diesel Euro 4 and Diesel Max Euro 4—are available nationwide.
Euro 4 is a globally accepted European emission standard for vehicles which require significantly low amount of sulfur (0.005 percent or 50 parts per million) and benzene (maximum of 1 percent by volume).
