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> Diesels are more fuel efficient than an equivalent-power petrol engine, hence lower CO2 emissions. > but they were favouring any vehicle with a low CO2 emiss

by hannob 7y ago

> Diesels are more fuel efficient than an equivalent-power petrol engine, hence lower CO2 emissions. > but they were favouring any vehicle with a low CO2 emission per kilometer You're making two statements here which sound like they're more or less the same, but they aren't. The first is true, the second is not. An equivalent-power diesel car produces less CO2. But they aren't equivalent. The tax breaks and lower fuel use led to bigger cars. On average Diesel cars have higher CO2 emissions per kilometer.

djaychela 7y ago
>On average Diesel cars have higher CO2 emissions per kilometer. I don't think that's true (in the UK at least) - both in that it's vanishingly rare to find a petrol vehicle that fit into the lowest 5 UK tax brackets (which are g/km of CO2) - and also in terms of real-world fuel use. I've owned probably 70 cars in the last 10 years or so (I buy and sell as a side gig), and all of the diesels have had lower fuel use for equivalent performance. They tend to be 'one size bigger' in terms of engine (so, say a 1.9 instead of a 1.6, or a 1.4 instead of a 1.1), but even taking that into account they will be a 10-20 mpg better on fuel, with a petrol 1.4 focus giving maybe 30 mpg average, and a diesel (1.6) one easily making 45-50 mpg, more on a run. And that means lower CO2 emissions. Yeah, you might see the occasional stupidly large diesel car/chelsea tractor, but most of them are 1.9D VAG, and 1.6 or 2.0 Peugeot/Citroen/Ford HDI/TDCIs - there are hundreds of thousands of them out there on the roads.
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Compared to 0.7 through 1.4l petrol cars, the diesel numbers are less than impressive and still bigger. And the 1.4 can easily can have horsepower and acceleration exceeding a 2.1l diesel.
usrusr 7y ago
> The tax breaks and lower fuel use led to bigger cars. We don't know that. Diesel is far more prevalent with bigger cars because they tend to eat through more energy over their lifetime, making it more likely to break even on the up-front premium for diesel (not just more joule per kilometre, but typically also far more kilometres per year). But chances are that without diesel, cars in Europe would be just as big today (e.g. they still tend to be smaller that in a certain famously petrol-centric country)

by hannob 7y ago

djaychela 7y ago

>On average Diesel cars have higher CO2 emissions per kilometer. I don't think that's true (in the UK at least) - both in that it's vanishingly rare to find a petrol vehicle that fit into the lowest 5 UK tax brackets (which are g/km of CO2) - and also in terms of real-world fuel use. I've owned probably 70 cars in the last 10 years or so (I buy and sell as a side gig), and all of the diesels have had lower fuel use for equivalent performance. They tend to be 'one size bigger' in terms of engine (so, say a 1.9 instead of a 1.6, or a 1.4 instead of a 1.1), but even taking that into account they will be a 10-20 mpg better on fuel, with a petrol 1.4 focus giving maybe 30 mpg average, and a diesel (1.6) one easily making 45-50 mpg, more on a run. And that means lower CO2 emissions. Yeah, you might see the occasional stupidly large diesel car/chelsea tractor, but most of them are 1.9D VAG, and 1.6 or 2.0 Peugeot/Citroen/Ford HDI/TDCIs - there are hundreds of thousands of them out there on the roads.

AstralStorm 7y ago
Compared to 0.7 through 1.4l petrol cars, the diesel numbers are less than impressive and still bigger. And the 1.4 can easily can have horsepower and acceleration exceeding a 2.1l diesel.

usrusr 7y ago

> The tax breaks and lower fuel use led to bigger cars. We don't know that. Diesel is far more prevalent with bigger cars because they tend to eat through more energy over their lifetime, making it more likely to break even on the up-front premium for diesel (not just more joule per kilometre, but typically also far more kilometres per year). But chances are that without diesel, cars in Europe would be just as big today (e.g. they still tend to be smaller that in a certain famously petrol-centric country)