If buying a new motorcoach is in your business plan for next year, be prepared to write a larger check then you might have expected.

Although pricing of 2010 coaches has yet to be announced, the cleaner engines mandated for next year by the federal Environmental Protection Agency will add thousands of dollars to their price tags, possibly as much as $15,000 in some cases.

However, manufacturers are suggesting that in many cases the new engines will produce better fuel economy that will help offset the higher price tags. Others doubt those claims, contending such talk is little more than sales promotion designed to tout the costly new engines.

The upgraded engines, which will be introduced on production coaches around the middle of next year, are designed to meet the last of three rigid EPA mandates for reigning in harmful emissions from diesel-powered commercial vehicles.

The EPA also ordered reduced emissions in 2004 and 2007, which added to the cost of new coaches introduced in those years. Motorcoaches sold with the 2007 engines, for instance, were about $10,000 higher than they otherwise would have been.

Meeting the latest and strictest of the federal clean air standards requires more advanced technologies and more new equipment that will have to be stuffed into already tight engine compartments, both of which will contribute to the higher bus prices.

Most engine builders Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Volvo are answering the 2010 directive for reduced NOx emissions with a technology that will clean exhaust gases through a selective catalytic reduction system, or SCR. The technology uses a urea-based fluid that requires installation of a storage tank and injection device, as well as extra piping and some after-treatment equipment.

Sticking with EGR

Navistar is the only engine builder that passed on the SCR system and, instead, opted to go with an enhanced exhaust gas recirculation system, or EGR technology, which does not require the use of urea. Instead, the EGR system injects a small amount of exhaust gas into the intake manifold, which dilutes the air and fuel mixture enough to prevent the generation of NOx.

However, Navistars system is not expected to fully meet the EPA standard, so it will use "credits" gained from its smaller, cleaner engines that have been well below the 07 emissions limits. Navistar is widely believed to be shooting for 0.5 grams per horsepower hour of NOx, the highest level EPA will allow even with credits, instead of the actual mandate of 0.2 grams per horsepower hour that all other manufacturers will comply with using SCR technology.

Navistars increased exhaust-gas-recirculation system also will generate more heat, which means coach builders using its engine will have to design in additional cooling capacity, just as they did in 2004 and 2007 for the first and second generation of EGR engines.

The new EPA regulations have presented bus manufacturers not only with new technology challenges but left them with far fewer engine options to offer their customers than in past years.

Beginning next year, Caterpillar will no longer make engines for the on-highway bus and truck markets, and Detroit Diesel will limit its engines to only Setra coaches.

'10 engine/coach line-up

As a result, Prevost Car will be using Volvo engines exclusively in its coaches, while MCI says it will offer Cummins and Navistar power plants. Van Hool will use Cummins and possibly another as-yet-unannounced engine, and IC Buses and BCI Falcon will use Navistar.

While manufacturers are still working out the prices for their 2010 models, talk among industry executives is that the new engines could add between $10,000 and $15,000 to the price of a new coach.

"No one is willing to confirm that right now, but thats what it is getting to look like," said Roman Cornell, national sales vice president for ABC, which markets Van Hool buses.

Patrick Scully, chief commercial officer for Daimier Buses North America, said it appears the SCR equipment being added to the companys Setra coaches is likely to push up the cost of a new model to the high end of the early projections, $15,000.

Others acknowledge the new engines will add to the cost of their coaches, but theyre not yet sure by how much.

"We havent heard yet how much the new engines will add to the purchase price of our coaches, but there is no doubt it will increase it, and, unfortunately, thats unavoidable," said Dann Wiltgen, vice president of coach sales at Prevost Car, which is owned by Volvo, the worlds second-largest truck and bus builder.

Volvo, however, has announced its over-the-road trucks will carry a surcharge of $9,600 to cover the cost of its engines, including those built by both Volvo and Cummins.

MCI, which plans on using Cummins engines, but will offer a Navistar as a non-SCR option, said the pricing of its motorcoaches for 2010 has yet to be determined.

Steve Schrier of Navistar said his company is not sure how much its engines will add to the price of motorcoaches, although he said school buses can expect to see a $6,000 increase. "Pricing is on our radar and we certainly want to do it as soon as possible," he added.

Fuel savings debate

Meantime, theres debate about how well the new engines will perform, including their fuel efficiency, which some manufacturers suggest will be improved enough to offset the higher costs of buying and operating the new engines.

Setra maintains its S 417 luxury motorocoach -- that will be powered by the new Detroit Diesel DD13 engine with SCR technology and equipment -- will deliver better fuel efficiency than the 2007 models by reducing dependency on exhaust gas recirculation, which will result in less heat generation, reducing fan on-time and its related fuel consumption.

The company said the 2010 engine has been performing well on prototype motorcoaches and trucks that have been on the road for some time and on production model Mercedes-Benz trucks.

"Daimier Buses will be the best positioned with reliable and proven engine technology," Scully asserted.

Wiltgen was a little more cautious about possible fuel savings. "The expectations are that fuel efficiency will be enhanced and hopefully that will help offset the purchase price of a new coach and the added operational price of using urea," he said.

MCI said the issue appears to be a wash, although it notes that the combined diesel and urea economy of the 2010 engines has yet to be proven. The company anticipates there will be fuel savings, but that savings probably would be offset by the cost of the urea, which would put the operating expenses at break even.

Cornell skeptical

ABCs Cornell said he doubts the new engines will deliver better fuel efficiency, saying such claims appear to be a sales pitch to help market the new engines.

"With the addition of urea, it will cost more and I dont see any fuel savings," he said. "Theres too many extra systems being added and I dont see how anyone can equate that to savings."

Cornell said the engines also have the potential for having some initial problems as well, noting there were issues with the 2004 and 2007 engines and there is no reason to believe the newest engines wont have them as well.

"If history repeats itself, well have issues with the 2010 engines, too" he added.

Still, theres plenty of evidence that SCR works and delivers better fuel economy. There are an estimated 500,000 trucks and buses running every day in Europe using SCR technology to meet Euro 4 emissions standards. SCR also will be used to meet the upcoming Euro 5 limits. And, SCR is used in Japan as well.

In Europe, where the NOx limits so far have been less stringent than the 2010 U.S. standards, the use of SCR has allowed for engine optimization that, according to one source, paid back 10 percent in fuel economy improvements.

When its applied in North America next year it will deliver less of a payback but even allowing for the cost of diesel exhaust fluid (urea), one expert predicts it will deliver at least a 3 percent fuel economy improvement.

There are some in the trucking industry who suggest engine manufacturers may be under-promising in the hope they can over-deliver when the time comes.