SN Plus Licensing Begins Next Week

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May 1 will be the first licensing date for API SN Plus, the supplemental classification for passenger car motor oils.

Beginning on that date, lubricant marketers will be permitted to sell products depicted as complying with SN Plus and bearing the American Petroleum Institutes donut trademark for engine oils. Oils licensed as API SN Plus and Resource Conserving may bear APIs starburst trademark, starting on May 1.

According to API, marketers that want API to license their oils as meeting API SN with SN Plus and API SN with SN Plus and Resource Conserving on the first licensing date must apply for licensing through the online application system at https://my.api.org/account/login. API will process applications in the order received, but the right to claim API licensing against the SN Plus classification will not be allowed until May 1.

Licensed API SN with SN Plus and API SN with SN Plus and Resource Conserving oils will not appear in the online API Directory until the first licensing date.

API invoked provisional licensing for ASTM D7528, a new bench test referred to as the ROBO test, to alleviate concerns about a months-long backup at test labs. Marketers with products that are otherwise demonstrated to meet the classifications requirements will be allowed an additional six months to document passing results from the ROBO test.

The lubricant industry developed SN Plus at the request of automakers, following repeated delays to ILSAC GF-6, the next full upgrade for passenger car motor oil specifications for the North American market. Originally scheduled to come to market in 2016, GF-6 is now on track for first licensing in 2020.

The main addition with SN Plus is a test to measure an oils ability to protect against low-speed pre-ignition, an occurrence that can cause engine knock and significant damage to engines.

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