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Europe was really led astray when they were told that diesels were better for the environment, hybrids would have been the way to go.
by happyscrappy 11y ago
Europe was really led astray when they were told that diesels were better for the environment, hybrids would have been the way to go.
- pjc50 11y agoEurope has 'bet on diesel' for many years while hybrids have only recently become available.
- _pmf_ 11y agoAll European manufacturers except Renault and BMW are hellbent on not offering attractive E mobility solutions, despite really expensive and extensive internal research programs. We in Germany have a large numbers of Smart cars in car sharing companies that are sponsored by Daimler, but it's not yet economically viable to actually buy an E-Smart (if you've driven one, it's not bad at all).
- pjc50 11y agoIt's strange. Europe should be a better market for electric and hybrid cars, given the higher petrol costs, but I guess the high purchase costs are putting people off. I'd buy one if I did enough miles. It's not worth it for a few thousand a year. Even having a petrol car sitting on my drive is an expense of marginal justifiability.
- kuschku 11y agoThe other issue is that in europe the group of people who are most likely to buy an electric car usually just bike or use public transit instead.
- nradov 11y agoHybrid cars have been available in Europe for 15 years. So not that recent.
- padelt 11y ago> Europe was really led astray when they were told that diesels were better for the environment Were we led astray? Or are we discussing the last few percentages beyond an actual advantage over gasoline engines?
- happyscrappy 11y agoThe reason air pollution is so much worse in European cities than American ones is largely due to diesel passenger vehicles.
- padelt 11y agoThat both suprises me, do you have any sources? Honest question, both seem counterintuitive. Maybe I am actually fed enough "feelgood" information in the past.
- happyscrappy 11y agohttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/05/industry-lobbyists-weakened-europes-air-pollution-rules-say-greenpeace http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/05/industry-...
- andy_boot 11y agoThat is an article from greenpeace about poor EU environmental standards in power stations. Sure it is bad but, it does not compare air pollution in EU vs US cities or attribute anything to cars.
- scrumper 11y agoSee for example Paris's recent (yesterday?) "no car day" in the center. The city's usual blanket of smog is gone. France of course having the highest %age of diesel cars in its passenger fleet of any country.
- morsch 11y ago
- brc 11y agoYes. Optimising for c02 reductions over Nox and particulates is a monumentally stupid policy. Co2 may have a deleterious effect in 100 years time, but is not an issue for air quality today. In any case, passenger vehicle c02 emssions are a rounding error in the scheme of things. Meanwhile, particulate pollution and Nox are very real issues affecting millions of people today. It's stupid to push diesel over gasoline for c02 reasons. Part of the reason VW cheated was because the USA didn't fall into this trap and allow more lax emissions standards for Diesels - all fuels are held to the same standard. So they took the Euro engines and added the defeat code. The USA is correct on this one. The focus on passenger vehicles is idiotic though - the amount of Nox and particulates pumped out by a single container ship is immense compared to a fleet of passenger vehicles. Then add trucking, rail, stationery equipment etc... Cities should be optimising for electric propulsion and punishing diesels. That makes sense for air quality right now, and if co2 proves to be an issue, it is easily fixed by switching the generation source to Nuclear or Hydro.