Germany giving €350 to retrofit diesel particulate filters
While diesel cars are tremendously popular in Europe, they're not without their drawbacks, especially if they're no as clean as possible. German diesel car drivers, for example, face the threat of an additional road tax of €1.2 per 0.1 liter of engine displacement if their car doesn't have an diesel particulate filter (DPF). Additionally, certain cities, such as Berlin and Hannover are going to ban diesel vehicles without DPFs from city centers. Buying a new car that has a DPF is not a viable solution for everyone, so the government is stepping in with financial assistance to retrofit older diesels. The trouble is that only certain models can actually have a DPF installed and it usually costs a hefty €650 or more. Now, the German government has decided to help citizens who want to retrofit these filters to their diesels by subsidizing €350 of the installation of such devices. If you live in Germany, head on over to the BAFA (Federal Office of Economics and Export Control) website for the details.
[Source: Auto News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rain 5:52PM (8/04/2009)
I'm hoping that a similar measure passes in the US,for
My beloved Dodge CTD and also for all the other ardent diesel aficionado's at large.
Breathe easy,My Bretheren.
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downtoearth 6:40PM (8/04/2009)
Diesel particulate filters suffer from high failure rates and repairs are being neglected by diesel car owners, therefore exposing pedestrians in densely populated areas as well as other road users to increased risk of lung cancer (
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downtoearth 6:42PM (8/04/2009)
survival lower than 5%).
Read about how numerous, mostly European, drivers attempt to cheat emission rules and choose carcinogenic particles over few bucks to spend on repair:
uk-mkvs.net/forums/p/179455/1180550.aspx#1180550
seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=211142
uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/227301/1615984.aspx
dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226634
forums.dieselpowermag.com/70/6390865/duramax/anyway-to-bypass-dpf-in-duramax-lmm/index.html
The situation will be far worse on the American market, where, additionaly, NOx treatment devices are required, thus making diesels even more prone to failure rendering them very poisonous and dirty vehicles.
At the same time, hybrids require just a single catalytic converter to be the cleanest cars on the road. Additionally, they minimize pollution in areas of highest population density.
Toyota Prius shot down 850+ competitors in ADAC emission test:
http://adac-ecotest.awardspace.biz/
At the very same time, dirty cancerous diesels finished at 400 last places mostly.
DasBoese 12:37PM (8/05/2009)
I don't know if you're just trolling or if you actually believe that bullshit.
All those forum posts sure are representative of all European diesel drivers, you know, just like all the threads where people ask about removing their catalytic converters.
You're probably not quite aware of the little fact that in many countries including Germany, removing your DPF is illegal. As in, you're not allowed to drive the car on public roads, you lose your license if you're caught and your insurance coverage is void if you get in an accident.
Conveniently, your link to the ADAC EcoTest doesn't work. Maybe because it's fake?
The REAL EcoTest at http://www1.adac.de/Tests/Autotest/Ecotest/default.asp?quer=ecotest sort of comes to a different conclusion. Most of the DPF-equipped diesels fare pretty well, averaging four stars, often above the gasoline variants. The really bad ones are only old models with no DPF, which is neither surprising nor relevant because practically all new cars have one.
And by the way, the oh so great Prius lost its first place to the Passat 1.4 TSI EcoFuel. A non-hybrid, LNG car.
Swede 5:26AM (8/05/2009)
DPF's are fitted to just about every new car sold in germany but yes, it is a country with a higher density of old diesel cars and it makes sense to upgrade those.
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jpm100 9:05AM (8/05/2009)
If we're going to go the Diesel route in the name of C02 over all else, why not use the Two-Stroke while we're at it.
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DasBoese 1:03PM (8/05/2009)
It's very hard to make two-stroke engines clean, economical -and- cost effective.
It'd require huge investments in R&D, new production lines and tooling, all of which automakers are understandably reluctant to make when the four-strokes do the job just as well.
One role where two-strokes (diesel, gas or multi-fuel) are a good idea is EV range extenders. Making them run well over the full rpm range required for a regular engine is complicated and expensive, requiring such things as variable intake and exhaust plumbing and valves, but optimizing them for constant load and rpm is pretty straightforward and well-understood.
gorr 10:57AM (8/05/2009)
Imagine the dangers and treats on anyone that buy a diesel car or small truck, each day you will be treatened by "new' regulations about your rig. Just look at all the big tractor-trailers trucks, construction machines, ships,etc that consume ton of diesel each minutes.
Diesel can be cure easilly by natural gas injection or oxy-hydrogen injection but a lot of car-manufacturers guys are accepting money from big-oil and they magically have less trouble with income tax.
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