Trends in Lubricants for Automotive Electrification

―Engine Oil Technology Contributing to Carbon Neutrality―

Abstract

As the electrification of vehicles such as BEV and HEV has been progressed to achieve carbon neutrality, improving the fuel efficiency of engines installed in HEV and PHEV remains an important challenge, and engine oil has also played a major role in reducing CO₂emissions. Fuel economy engine oil technologies such as 0W-16 and 0W-8 are being developed, contributing to the reduction of CO₂emissions in new vehicles. On the other hand, conventional low viscosity engine oils also require engine side adaptations, such as securing oil pressure, since the viscosity at high temperatures is also lowered. To address this issue, flat viscosity oil technology is being investigated, in which the viscosity at high temperatures is the same or higher than that of conventional oil, the viscosity only at medium and low temperatures is lowered. This technology has a good potential to improve fuel economy not only for new vehicles, but also for in-use vehicles, and will be able to make a significant contribution to carbon neutrality.