DaimlerChrysler unveils Dodge Ram Heavy Duty BLUETEC truck

23 January 2007

At the Washington (DC) Auto Show, DaimlerChrysler unveiled the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy pickup truck with 6.7 liter Cummins turbodiesel engine which meets the US 2010 diesel truck emission standards, nearly 3 years ahead of the regulatory deadline. The truck, offered with B5 and B20 biodiesel, will be available to consumers in all 50 US states from March 2007.

The truck is the first BLUETEC vehicle from the Chrysler Group. It combines advanced in-cylinder technologies, including a Bosch flexible 1800 bar high pressure common-rail fuel system, Cummins next-generation cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and variable geometry turbocharger (VGT), with advanced exhaust aftertreatment technology. The aftertreatment system includes a close-coupled diesel oxidation catalyst, a NOx adsorber catalyst and a combined diesel oxidation/particulate filter. The engine also incorporates a closed crankcase ventilation (CCV) system. It is the first diesel vehicle on the market that meets the 2010 emission standards for heavy-duty engines (NOx = 0.2 g/bhp-hr, PM = 0.01 g/bhp-hr), and one of the first commercial applications of the NOx adsorber technology on a diesel engine.

DaimlerChrysler also announced that 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 3.0 liter common rail turbodiesel (CRD) will begin to arrive at Jeep dealerships in March; and that a clean, light-duty turbodiesel engine for the Dodge RAM 1500 pickup meeting emission standards in all 50 US states will be available after 2009.

The announcements were made today at the Washington Auto Show by Dieter Zetsche, DaimlerChrysler Chairman, and Tom LaSorda, chief executive of DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group.

The Cummins clean diesel engines have been developed based on a nine-year partnership between Cummins and the US Department of Energy (DOE). Plans to start commercial production were announced last year.

Source: DaimlerChrysler