The 2024 update is meant to replace the 2022 version of the ACEA heavy-duty sequences, written by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, ACEA. For one year oil marketers may continue selling products labeled as meeting the 2022 sequences. After Oct. 15, 2025, the 2024 update will be the only version that heavy-duty oils may be promoted as meeting.

Automobile suppliers in Europe use the ACEA sequences as the backbone for defining performance requirements for engine oils used light- and heavy-duty vehicles. While many original equipment manufacturers recommend oils meeting their own specifications, these are largely built on ACEA specs, tacking on a few additional requirements specific to their models.

Among categories for heavy-duty oils, ACEA E8, E11 and F01 define requirements for oils used in engines that meet Euro VI, the European Union’s latest automotive engine emissions standard, as well as all previous standards, while ACEA E4 and E7 are only potentially appropriate for engines meeting standards before Euro VI. E8, E11 and F01 are recommended in engines equipped with emissions control technologies such as diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction, and those categories plus E7 are compatible with exhaust gas recirculation. E4 is only recommended for some engines with EGR, and E4 and E7 are not recommended for engines with the other control technologies.

E4 and E7 are compatible with diesel containing more than 50 parts per million sulfur, while the other categories may be. E8, E11 and F01 are recommended for engines running on biodiesel, while E4 and E7 may be.

The main distinction for F01 is a requirement for high-temperature, high-shear stability at 150 degrees C to be between 2.9 and 3.2 millipascal seconds, as opposed to at least 3.5 mPa·s for all of the other categories. That means F01 oils must be thinner than oils of other categories, providing better fuel economy, but they face the same requirements for all wear tests.