Paris mayor wants diesels banned..

[Tony]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30368504

 

The people who needed to wake up were the governments who encouraged the explosion in diesel purchases through taxation schemes that massively favoured diesel cars. The end result is that in some areas of the market now 95% of the cars you can buy are diesel.

Because only CO2 mattered, right?

It's now going to be somewhat difficult to sort out as millions of people own diesel cars because the manufacturers tailored the range towards them as a result of the total focus on CO2 above anything else. You can't suddenly outlaw the choice of car of quite so much of the population.

If only they'd not focused on Co2 quite so heavily and instead gone after NOX, we'd have a vehicle fleet of quiet efficient petrol engines now not the bizarre situation where if you want to buy an E Class with a decent engine and you don't want an E63 AMG they will literally only offer you a diesel.

 

[parthiban]

Getting rid of diesels is a good idea, you're completely right that promoting them was a huge mistake - I can't even quite see what the agenda behind it could have been.

 

Unless they really did believe that CO2 emissions were more important than air quality.

[liner33]

Boris has got it in for them as well

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2751365/Junk-diesel-cars-They-health-hazard-scrap-pay-owners-2-000-Boris-tells-MPs.html

 

The Merc diesel engines are great they have been making them since the 30's though

 

Its the particulates that are the real health hazard , the dpf's don't help with the dangerous small ones only the larger less harmful ones plus that's awful technology really , just a band aid solution. 

 

The French pioneered diesels and gave French manufacturers large amounts of government money to develop them , that's why they got the jump on everyone else.

 

Its only now with computers and hybrid technology that petrols have caught up , shame they never got the investment they needed back then as when diesels started to rise up most petrols were very inefficient with carburettors etc

[parthiban]

While diesels have been around for a while they've only really gained massive market share in the last 10-15 years (when most petrols were fuel injected), which is the period we've been obsessed with CO2. Agree though that it has held back investment on petrol cars, and the small petrol turbo would have been a much better solution developed years ago if governments hadn't forced the manufacturers down the diesel route.

 

Unless they readjust company car tax rules though surely there's not much chance of switching people back into petrols because even the turbos can't quite match the diesels can they?

[Funky]

Lol I just got myself my first diesel.

As said the best choice Merc was a diesel though,the petrol option was very weak and pants. I'd never considered diesel before I went to test drive one.

Not the first time I've heard that oil burners are on the hit list recently.

[liner33]

Diesels are less popular in the UK than the rest of Europe unsurprisingly really since the fuel is so much cheaper over there

 

 

Companies like Peugeot  really got the jump on the competition after heavy investment in the 80's , the PSA XUD engine was the basis for a large amount of diesel cars and is still popular today and Renaults 1.5 diesel is still used today in the Dacia range almost 20 years old now. The reliability of these engines over the petrols probably goes a long way to fuel the new car sales as they keep cars longer and they hold their value better.

 

[Funky]

Is that the engine that was in the little Peugeot 205s that went on forever?

[liner33]

yep and many citroens like the BX. xantia etc , Ford also bought it under licence for their early escorts etc IIRC