Diesels...... rip?

Mercedes, BMW and VAG have said they will introduce more petrol hybrids and that the next euro Emissions will most likely mean Diesels will be too expensive to make.

We should have went the LPG route years ago but C02 is seen as the Devil and not the carcinogenic emissions from diesels, people are brainwashed into thinking Co2 is a pollutant, it is not. LPG emits more Co2 but far less pollutants than petrol and especially Diesel.

The Irish Government still allow Coal as a form of heating in Irish homes all over the country, the clouds of coal smoke in my estate every night is disturbing despite most people having oil heating installed. Noting being done about it. It kills my sinus .

If people get used to plug in hybrids they won't want to go back to Agricultural engines again.

Those who have plug ins want more electric range so it's a good way of getting people to go to the dark side of electric vehicles.

Gen II electrics will start appearing from 2017 on with 120-140 miles real range, I honestly don't think people who will buy a new car would consider a diesel, you will have people who don't like change and think if it doesn't rattle and smoke when you start it that it's not a car or if it can't drive 1000 Kms on one tank/charge I won't buy it ( because I drive 1000 kms every day lol)

The Kia Soul ev has been independently tested as having 100 miles range @ 100 Kph @ 25 Deg C. and has a battery heater greatly improving winter range, it's got huge potential but it's not for everyone.

The Golf and Passat GTE plug ins will be available in 2015 but they will be more expensive so the 1.6 TDI will still be the biggest seller.

If The E.U only realised the benefit of lifting the restrictions of 15 mph on electric bicycles so much city traffic could be eliminated, if the Irish Government restricted certain streets in towns and cities to bicycle only then a lot more people will cycle.

You can convert your electric bicycle to electric which is a fun way to travel, even a 15 mph electric assist bike has huge potential one of the cheapest forms of transport available. And a good way to get exercise !

mickdw wrote: »

That's a great point about co2 versus the harmful exhaust emissions.
I often wondered why co2 is taken as the yardstick. It just seems to facilitate the green agenda re footprint and being carbon neutral etc.
I guess to a point it does reflect fuel efficiency but to blindly ignore cancer causing pollutants is quite laughable.

The E.U is laughable.

Fuel efficiency is always good but LPG is a by-product of making petrol and burned off at the refinery because there's no need for the majority of it.

Not to mention the amount of electricity consumed to make petrol & diesel which could power electric cars for millions of miles, and the rest.

LPG is a far cleaner fuel and while you'll use more of it, the tax can be adjusted accordingly so it won't cost more.

A prius on LPG would be one of the cheapest cars you could run. But I fear the reliability long term on LPG. But it's an example of what can be done.

One thing people say as a dig against electrics "what about the emissions from generating electricity ?" and I say what about the electricity used to refine petrol & Diesel ?

Electrics can be used to store wind energy during times of low demand when it has to be turned off which is when we have to subsidise these wind company investors.

If Co2 is proportional to the rise in the average temperature of the Earth then why since 1998 has there been no increase in the Earth's temps, despite the increase in Co2 ? This is something the computer models can't compute and has left Climatologists baffled but yet they go on about the rising temps causing havoc when in fact there is nothing happening the weather patterns that hasn't happened before.

So if the computer models can't explain for the lack of warming in the last 16 years why should we believe these models while making outrageous predictions for the next 100 years ?

If the data entered in the models isn't accurate, then what do people will expect will be the result ?

The U.K have invested billions in new super computers for the wrong data to be produced faster !

CiniO wrote: »

But is it really EU? Were those general EU outlines?
Some countries went that way of encouraging low CO2 emission cars by taxing heavily high CO2 ones.
But there's still plenty of countries in EU where nothing like that is happening.

F.e. in Poland there's no incentive at all to buy diesel cars.
There's no motor tax there. Cost of insurance is partly based on engine size, so diesel being usually bigger CC engines than petrol cost more.
Excise on cars (registration tax) is 3% of it's value for below 2 litre cars, and 18% for over 2 litre cars.
And diesel costs more per litre than petrol at most times.
Obviously new diesel cars cost much more than petrol ones, as they are just more expensive to build than petrol cars. (in Ireland this difference is lost by low VRT rates on diesel and high VRT rates on petrol).
Also LPG is very popular (over 2 million vehicles driving on it), as cost of LPG over last 20 years was usually lower than half price of petrol.

So if it was general EU outlines, I suppose every country would have to adjust to it, while as you can see it doesn't.

The E.U have Co2 limits which for up to 2015 are about 130 g/km if I remember correctly. Something like 65% of a manufacturers produced vehicles will have to comply and 100% from 2015 on.

Then from 2020 the limit is reduced further to 95 g/km and so on. This will be tough forcing plug ins and electrics.

It doesn't stop there though as Euro 7 emissions come into effect in 2020, they'll be much stricter and the German Automakers have said it will be too complex and expensive to treat diesel exhaust at that point, we'll see. But at least the E.U is finally waking up to the damage diesel exhaust is doing to our health.

At a local level it's up to the Government to meet emissions regulations and apply whatever tax they see fit to meet those targets.

If 2 million Europeans are using LPG that's nothing considering the amount of people that drive out of the 500 or million population and how many drive diesels.

I think plug ins will replace diesels and then the rest will go back to petrol and more and more will trickle into electrics. But you could be surprised if Gen II electrics come out from 2017 how many will change over.

The NEDC test does allow the car makers to get away with murder as it is, it's a useless test and needs to be changed.

mickdw wrote: »

Is that actually coming .... 100% of vehicles under 130 by 2015 and under 95 by 2020?
I find it hard to believe that that is possible by 2015 for 100% of vehicles.

It's 95% @95 g/km and 100% from 2021, it maybe that auto makers protest and win but it may be that they won't succeed or even bother. It all depends on where they see the auto industry evolving and diesel isn't the way it's going.

However, there is an incentive for car makers to produce even greater low emissions cars under 50 g/km and those that do can avail of credits, each super low emissions car in 2014 will be classed as 2.5 cars and 1.5 in 2015 and 1 in 2016-2019.

Once the Euro 7 comes though I think that's it for Diesel. There is certainly no need for diesels in passenger cars and vans as it is, lpg and/or plug ins and electrics would greatly clean up our air quality.

If the NEDC test doesn't evolve along with the changes then it's a bit pointless because the test itself allows for manufacturers to claim far greater mpg numbers than you can get in real life, so Co2 will increase proportionality.

Now all we need in Ireland is a nationwide ban on burning coal for heating !