What Industries Have Switched to Synthetic Oil?

Over the last couple decades many large industries have switched over from conventional lubricants to synthetic. This has lead them to having longer lasting machinery and saving money as well as time. Synthetic lubricants like the synthetic oil we use to top up your vehicles after the drain bolt and oil filter are changed are a far superior lubricant and can extend your vehicle’s life tens of thousands of kilometres.

Construction/Heavy Equipment Synthetic Switch Over

When synthetic motor oil had come to the market from its existence in the military, many people were skeptical of its application. Synthetic oil first begun with use in aircrafts, in order to supress the effects of extreme cold when flying at high altitudes. This soon lead to people using synthetic oil for lubrication in their vehicles and certain manufacturers making them for heavy equipment.

Construction equipment operators first began using synthetic oils in the late 1970s and since not all the seals were prepared for synthetic oil and some of synthetic oils additives there were many complications. Due to this it took many decades for the construction industry to come around to the idea of paying less money and having greater protection on their largest asset, their equipment.

Synthetic Oils Used in Manufacturing

 

The main reason that manufacturers switched over synthetic oils prior to the construction industry is simply a timing issue. As many people that have worked in a factory know that factories don’t stop manufacturing.

To stop the machines for the night would cost lots of money since starting these large units can take close to an hour and sometimes even longer, and you will burn more energy getting it started. Because of this, manufacturers started with their use of synthetic lubricants far before the adoption by construction.

Synthetic oil allows them to run their machines for longer without having to turn them off for maintenance and the company can save money on maintenance by having oil changes less often.

As we have highlighted in previous articles, synthetic oil also does do a better job protecting against erosion in general along with its longer lasting protection.

Many large manufacturers have also had to increase their public persona as it pertains to environmentalism, and due to this synthetic oil is the only option. This is because Synthetic oil requires less crude oil to create and because of the additives the oil lasts twice as long, therefore less oil being refined.

Synthetic Oil Used in Passenger Car Fleets

Many passenger car fleets are also switching over to synthetic lubricants. The reasons are like that of the other two industries we have highlighted, except the change has been happening at a quicker rate.

In the early 2000’s less than 20% of lubricants used were synthetic, but now it is over %70. This is an increasing number every year as more passenger car manufacturers are specifying that you use either full or blended synthetic motor oil.

Synthetic motor oil adds increased fuel economy since it does lower resistance created in the engine compared to conventional. Because of new fuel efficient standards brought by most western countries there will be essentially no market for conventional oil soon enough.

Manufacturers also accept that decreasing time needed for maintenance gives them a purchasing advantage when fleets look to add new vehicles. Similar to that of the manufacturing industry it is of high importance that large fleets have access to as many of their vehicles as possible, and lowering maintenance hours achieves just that.

For all these reasons, and many more we think you should also be making the switch to synthetic lubricants. You can not only save time and money, but help your vehicle fight erosion in its engine components.