Diesel & petrol alternatives? Your thoughts please

Adblue and it's inclusion on modern euro6 diesels imho will not contiue for too long in the future as it way too easy to defeat it by widely available emulators for less than  a tenner . I'm certain the smallest adblue tank costs more than that to fill.

I know Vosa etc are undertaking roadside checks on commercial vehicles but it won' take long for them to start checking private vehicles when their vehicle checking software identifies relevant models who are supposed to be adblue equippd . The fines are substantial if they find an emulator defeat device fitted.

Tj

There was a programme on the telly the other night talking about this, though it it seems they've moved on from emulators to re-programming the ECU to believe that Ad-blue is being injected.

That may be the case with some commercial operators, but I'm a private owner, and I specifically sought out a vehicle running on AdBlu in order to reduce my emissions whilst retaining the power and torque of a big diesel.  So with that in mind, I'm hardly going to mess about with it in order to cheat the result that I wanted!

Remember too that for every cheating bar**** out there, there are a lot of totally reputable hauliers too, that will not want to spoil their reputation.

I suspect that it will be a very long time before any of the new power units will deliver the Power and Torque that a really big commercial HGV will produce and the longevity of the engine!

The Diesel will not be dead for quite a while yet!

TF

What technology do you then feel will replace the use of Adblue to get modern diesels down to even the current Euro 6 standard, let alone meet more restrictive legislation?

I suspect it will not be long before it also starts to be needed in petrol engines as the push for increased efficiency and increased Nox control will make use of some controlling technology there essential.

I am well aware that EGR technology both LP & HP plus combined is another technology to limit Nox though from my experiences with that technology the least it is used in my vehicles the better.

Well Ocsid  simply put adblue isn't the only diesel clean up option. There are many manufacturers who have EUR 6 compliant diesels who rely on dpfs etc. Some with more success than others.   I take your point about the inevitable creep that will include petrol engines. Ultimately the end of the ice  as an option for personal transport is inevitable imho. As has been mentioned by many I will probably not be around to witness it. 

The ' Jetsons' are on their way back 😃😃

Tj

Regarding the cost of filling Adblue.  I filled the tank of my Skoda Superb.  It took 12.61 litres and cost £8.81 @ 69.9p/L. I use the truck pump at Chester services.  As the filler cap, is next to the fuel cap.  It is as straight forward as putting fuel in.  

 I don't think this whole idea of getting rid of diesel cars has been thought through properly. Modern Euro 6 car engines are cleaner than their petrol equivalents in the main. Diesels potentially throw out carbon monoxide whereas petrol throws out carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that all governments have declared war against. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders the level of CO2 has increased as diesel car sales fall.

There are many other users of diesel fuel that would be very difficult to reduce. Rail is only about 50% electrified, (with electrification projects being cancelled), the rest relies in diesel. Road haulage, agriculture and construction all need diesel powered plant, much of the latter being used in urban situations. The organizations representing these industries have a greater political clout that us "easy touch" motorists. I read somewhere that Southampton, (I believe), has one of the highest air pollution levels because of all the shipping. Ships aren't going to change to being electrically powered are they - (3 months to charge the batteries of a cruise liner??), 

The answer is to keep the fuel spread as it is at present but to put more effort into producing even cleaner diesel engines for whatever end use. Yes, at some stage fossil fuel will become exhausted (no pun intended) and some other fuel will have to be found that is as efficient, convenient and practical but I'm sure that day won't happen in my lifetime or that of my grandchildren or their children.

They could address some of the pollution by sorting out some of our traffic holdups.

My thoughts on electric cars are to avoid them, especially given the increased number that are setting on fire.

Also I keep my car in an integral  garage, so I'm happy to keep running a diesel over petrol due to fire risk.

Have just been reading stats for 2017 cars on the road,there were 308,000,more diesel cars on the road than 2016,

45,000 electric cars, miniscule increase on 2016

and 0.5% less petrol cars