On our last trip I noticed the imprint XTL on the gas cap of the Grand California, until then I only knew B7, i.e. normal diesel.
XTL is fully synthetic diesel, so this fuel contains no petroleum. We are surprised that the Crafter seems to be able to handle this without any problems. This fuel is not found in Germany, it has no approval. Germany is not complying with an EU requirement that XTL fuels must be approved as an alternative.
In Sweden, XTL diesel, which is called HVO100 there, is available at many service stations as an alternative to conventional diesel. The special or rather the big difference to BIO Diesel is that both fuels can be mixed without hesitation, it does not matter how much XTL or B7 is still in the tank. You won’t notice any difference when driving. Vehicles that are operated with XTL are promised better starting behavior.
However, we could not check that, because there is a big BUT! Before we fill up XTL, we wanted to know if the Truma heater can also run on the XTL diesel. To do this, we contacted Truma and were told by a friendly technician that XTL has a different temperature range than conventional diesel. This can cause deposits to build up in the heater if used continuously, rendering it unusable.
We find the circumstance then but somewhat strange and dangerous from Volkswagen, because it is nowhere written that XTL may not be used with the Truma 6D. Not even on the Truma homepage or in the manual. Fortunately, in this case we listened to our gut feeling and first sought contact with Truma, because normally you should assume that VW only lists fuels on the tank cap that the complete system can tolerate.
If you use a gas heater, you can use the XTL fuel without hesitation and even improve your environmental balance, because CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to 20 percent.
