General Motors advised last month that it will postpone the expiration of existing Dexos1 engine oil licenses until Dec. 31, 2016 because it is taking longer than expected to approve licenses for the next generation of the specification.
Dexos1 is used around the world to qualify engine oils suitable for factory fill or replacement fill in GM vehicles. Licenses for the earlier version of Dexos1 had been due to expire in August. GMs Eric Johnson discussed the delay Oct. 20 at the annual meeting of the United States-based Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association in Boca Raton, Florida.
Johnson stressed that new licenses are no longer being considered or granted for oils meeting the earlier Dexos1 specification, which was first required for GMs 2011 gasoline-fueled vehicles. August 18 was the last day any new formulas were reviewed for licensing to that original specification, he said. Now we are only reviewing products that meet Dexos1 Next Generation requirements.
More than 100 individual companies are licensed to Dexos1, covering well over 200 brands and 400 individual products. The renewal request rate is roughly 95 percent, so the number of candidate oils submitted for review is significant.
Dexos licensing committee has been working hard to fulfill the requests, said Johnson, GMs fuels and lubricants industry liaison. Previously we had quarterly meetings to do the review, Johnson said. Now we are meeting monthly to get through the reviews more quickly so everyone can get their new licenses.
One reason for the lag in reviews may be that Dexos1 Next Generation has a long list of tests that must be passed by candidate oils. Some of these take long times to perform, which ties up the test stands at laboratories like Southwest Research Institute and Intertek, and other tests have only one or two stands in operation anywhere.
Johnson mentioned that Dexos2, GMs oil specification for light-duty diesel engines, is also moving towards an upgrade, and expected for release during 2016. He had no information to share at this time about the Dexos2 upgrade though, because that specification is being managed by his GM colleagues in Europe, where passenger car diesels are far more widely used than in North America.