Evinrude and the emissions challenge

The Canadian brand Evinrude is the starting point of our survey on how the main marine heat engine manufacturers are preparing to launch the future clean low-emission and low-consumption engines.

Carbon dioxide and polluting gas emissions have specific restrictions which, depending on the country, become increasingly stricter over the years, forcing heat engine manufacturers to develop special solutions which can make their engines as “green” as possible.

” As for emissions, we’ve saved two dates on the calendar”, explains Jeff Wasil, engineering manager in Emissions Testing Certification and Regulatory Development for Evinrude, ” 1 July 2018, when all new outboards imported into Australia from this date must be compliant with the new anti-pollution standards; and 1 July 2019, when any new outboards not only the new ones, supplied to the Australian market from this date must be compliant; we’ve decided that all our engines must comply with this high homologation standard  but we were already ready for this”.

“Long before these new Australian regulations were put in place, our clean-technology E-TEC and E-TEC G2 engines already met these standards. During the years of development, through rigorous and continuous emission tests – says Wasil – our engines have achieved over a 90% reduction in emissions and a 50% reduction in consumption. Moreover, we were the first to win the United States Environmental Protection Agency Clear Air Excellence Award in 2005; today, after 13 years, we’re proud to deliver the cleanest technology to Australia and across the globe”.

The key is in development and research: ” In June 2014, we introduced the Evinrude E-TEC G2 in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin”, continues Wasil, ” before being launched on the market, this engine had been under development for 5 years and, since then, we never stopped”. E-TEC is a cutting-edge direct fuel injection system which uses the most advanced direct fuel injection technology which introduces the correct amount of fuel directly into the combustion chamber of the engine. This provides the most efficient method of developing power, increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions and it has been awarded some prestigious prices, including three stars from the California Air Resources Board, the strictest emission standard in the world.

Evinrude E-TEC G2 technology has allowed the Canadian manufacturer to have the lowest emissions of all the other outboards; with a 15% better fuel consumption than competitors, these engines are the most efficient marine engines in terms of fuel consumption.

This technology and the support from BRP ( which took over Evinrude in 2001) have allowed the brand to regain a significant portion of the American 4-stroke market that, since 1998 and for more than 5 years, was held by Yamaha – 28% of the USA market share. When EPA introduced the new emission regulations which would be put in place in early 2000, engine manufacturers had to re-engineer and re-organized their activity; Yamaha exploited the vulnerable position of Honda ans Suzuki, the chaotic restoration of ownership of Evinrude and the delay of Mercury. In short, Yamaha had no serious rivals on the USA four-stroke market – the world’s largest outboard market – for 5 years.

Even according to ICOMIA – an international trade association representing the the global marine industry – fuel consumption of the Evinrude E-TEC G2 engines is significantly better than other four-stroke engines and carbon dioxide emissions are considerably lower than other models.

“Judging from the data we’ve collected, amongst 30 boats, we have noticed that those ones fitted with Evinrude E-TECT G2 engines are much more efficient in terms of fuel consumption at low and medium speed, more or as efficient as the other four-stroke models at high speed; thanks to the E-TEC G2, we’ve managed to close the gap that existed between 4-strokes engines and the old 2-strokes”, says Wasil.

“We are committed to offering ever cleaner solutions to generations to come, which is why we sell the exact same technology to boat owners all around the world, even in countries with less stringent regulations”, said Evinrude Vice President and General Manager, Tracy Crocker, ” I applaud Australia’s commitment to preserving our waters by setting a global standard for marine emissions regulations”.