Real World Emissions Tests – Are They A Joke?
Friday, 11. May 2018
I’ve been banging on about the problems being caused by the new real-world emissions tests introduced last September for weeks now.
Supplies of stock cars are drying up and manufacturers are either quoting very long deliveries or closing their order books altogether, for the moment, till they know that their cars have been approved.
In order for things to get back to normal, the manufacturers need to have their cars approved or at least know what modifications need to be carried out on their production lines in order to meet the target emissions.
I’m repeating myself but it’s important everyone, with car replacements coming up, is aware of the issues.
But here’s the shocker. The Government is now anal about NOx emissions but the two worst performers were petrol engine cars, Ford Fiesta and Nissan Qashqai.
According to a report in the Times, the Fiesta was 4 times over the lab test limit for NOx emissions whilst the Qashqai was 10 times over.
So whilst diesels have been targetted by the Greens for spewing out masses of NOx’s it turns out that some petrol engines are worse than diesel-powered cars. It’s all, in the words of President Trump, fake news.
The fact is that the NOx scares have put buyers off diesel cars in their droves. I should add that Nissan and Ford responded.
Nissan said that the existing engine, which was compliant under the old rules, would be replaced this summer. Ford responded by announcing also that the car selected for testing was last of an old model which has now been replaced with significant changes to the emissions after-treatment system bringing emissions into line. By Graham Hill
