Diesel car ban in German cities

[Nic Chase (NICO) - Shropshire & Mid-Wales AO]

It’s started. 

How long before it comes to the UK?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43211946

[Lyonspride]

This is exactly what I thought would eventually happen back in 2008 when the govt was trying to boost the automotive industry by promoting diesel cars, zero VED, and scrappage schemes.

For this reason (and the DPF/DMF horror stories) I have point blank refused buy diesel, my current daily runner is a 2.0 Duratec HE Mondeo and it really did take some finding as most cars were out there are diesels.

It's hard to imagine, but I think something similar will happen to EVs in 10 years time........ It'll probably be something to do with the batteries, materials used and disposal of, etc.

[John Dolan - Wirral & North Wales AO]

Your planet needs you. Should we play our part? Can we play our part?

Don't drive a diesel car. And don't drive an inefficient petrol car, such as a Crossflow on twin 40's, or a V8 on a 30 year old ecu.

Our planet has taken care of itself from time immemorial, remember the ice age a few (earth) years ago? They say there is another one coming, so that should sort out global warming and save the penguins.

A mate of mine went to buy a new Ford. "Why on earth do you want a petrol car?" the salesman asked, obviously nothing to do with the 27% fall in diesel sales.

Yes, diesel and petrol will soon be history, replaced by electric, solar, hydrogen, pedal, huskies, cow dung and whatever else. In the meantime I'm looking forward to 1,500 miles around Scotland this summer in my V8. And long may it last.

Just hope it doesn't rain.

 

[Terryathome]

We could all be forced to run 1.0L ecoboost Westfields?

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

11 hours ago, Terryathome said:

We could all be forced to run 1.0L ecoboost Westfields?

Except the 1.0L ecoboost is very tall and would take some fitting under the bonnet. It's got a very small footprint (it would stand on a A4 sheet of paper) but its very tall.

I've a 4 year old diesel and while not to the latest clean specification is still way cleaner than the cars of old but I'm unsure where I stand re entry to some cities. the other thing I'd really like to understand from a planetary perspective is which is worse  CO2 or Particulates. Not necessarily what's worse for us humans but what's worse for the planet as a whole. 

[DamperMan]

Is it cynical to think it's just a ploy and to get people with perfectly good cars to buy new cars, and even better if the old cars are  scrapped in the name of green forcing more new car sales due to lack of cars entering the used car market.      After all making a new car has hardly any carbon foot print or ecological impact compared to using an old poluter which is a few percent worse than the new fantastic supergreen cars of now.            

[DonPeffers]

3 hours ago, DamperMan said:

Is it cynical to think it's just a ploy and to get people with perfectly good cars to buy new cars, and even better if the old cars are  scrapped in the name of green forcing more new car sales due to lack of cars entering the used car market.      After all making a new car has hardly any carbon foot print or ecological impact compared to using an old poluter which is a few percent worse than the new fantastic supergreen cars of now.            

Irony spotted without difficulty.

 

[jeff oakley]

7 hours ago, DamperMan said:

Is it cynical to think it's just a ploy and to get people with perfectly good cars to buy new cars, and even better if the old cars are  scrapped in the name of green forcing more new car sales due to lack of cars entering the used car market.      After all making a new car has hardly any carbon foot print or ecological impact compared to using an old poluter which is a few percent worse than the new fantastic supergreen cars of now.            

Sorry mate you have to keep up with the green movement as it changes every day. Making new cars is inefficient but with renewables that is all lovely and fluffy. Plus it gets all those older dirty cheap cars off the road for the rich or chosen ones to drive unhindered.

The Green lobby has now begun to destroy the car industry as we know it, there is a headlong rush for electric, but the battery issue is not yet fixed and there is already talk of the lithium running out in a short time as everything with a battery is now using that material and prices are rising fast. Other technologies are way behind, hydrogen needs massive energy to make and no one wants a small nuclear plant near them so that is out of the question. It is a mess with no clear end in sight.

In the UK I doubt they will ban diesel and older cars outright, why would they when they can show their green credentials and just hike the tax ever higher. Have a diesel or gas guzzler, pay more to drive and to park it is easy money for councils as apart from a few cities there is no alternative to driving as public transport is woeful

[DamperMan]

Again cynically ... The greens have no power besides they drive 2cv’s... it’s the car manufactures who have the lobbying powers in Europe.   If I remember correct the state of Wolfsburg own a sizeable part of Vw.   Hardly surprising a largely state owned Vw German  is not particularly  fined by the eu for dieselgate.  Yet! They have loads to gain from now selling new ‘ecological’ replacement cars.   If you ask me it all stinks! 

[jeff oakley]

You are correct with the ownership and yes that is why they are suffering little punishment in the EU. However it was an investigation into the level of emissions which eberyone is obsessed with in the US that led to the cheat device being found.

The manufacturers are very good at lobbying but even they cannot fight against the green lobby who have every government ears at the moment. They would have carried on selling cars before, they will continue to sell the new range they produce.

What they would really like is there to be a massive scrappage scheme to really get the ball rolling but that is unlikely at present.

[DamperMan]

A truly green lobby would understand the environmental impact of making a new car, lithium batteries, electric production higher co2 output of petrol.   I still think there’s darker forces than the green’s.  Dark forceshave more to gain, that’s cash! I totally agree we need to move towards a better solution in a ballenced way I just dislike the deception 

[DonPeffers]

Plenty battery grade lithium in Afghanistan apparently.

War on terror or resources?---you just know I love a conspiracy theory.

[Lawrie]

I remember when I was a boy, we were going to run out of oil in 30 years, and parts of America had bad smog due to NOX emissions. 

I'm in the process of buying a new car.  For diesel, most colours and trim levels are available from dealers stocks, but petrol's a 3 month wait

[PFT]

So if electric cars are the future what are we going to charge them with? 

 

[Dommo]

18 minutes ago, PFT said:

So if electric cars are the future what are we going to charge them with? 

 

Electric would probably work best...

You're right though - scale the electric cars up and it's a lot of electricity. If/when we go down that route the greenest electrical supplies won't be enough. We'll need trade offs in electrical generation vs ecological damage, such as tidal barriers or construction of nuclear plants.