42 whichcar.com.au/wheels
older, dirtier diesels to drive in the heart of the
city. And courts in Germany early this year upheld
the right of cities to impose bans on diesels,
including the hometown of Mercedes-Benz and
Porsche, Stuttgart.
All these moves are aimed at cutting the levels
of health-harming NOX(oxides of nitrogen) emitted
by diesels in densely populated areas. Dieselgate is
chiefly about Volkswagen’s decision to cheat on NOX
emissions standards.
At the same time, industry leaders like Mercedes-
Benz boss Dieter Zetsche, keep insisting that
diesel is vital if car makers are to meet lower CO 2
emissions targets set by governments. Reducing CO 2is important, as it’s a major cause of global warming.
Europeans are being told that diesel is a
pollution problem ... and a pollution solution. Both
happen to be true, but buyers are confused. Thanks
to Dieselgate, they’re also suspicious. Naturally
enough, they’re steering clear.
Meanwhile, affordable internal combustion
technologies that will make diesels obsolete
for light-duty applications are nearing market
readiness. Mazda’s Skyactiv-X engine is the
outstanding example. It burns petrol, so its NOX
emissions are low, yet it operates with diesel-
rivalling efficiency and low CO 2 levels. This engine
will be introduced in the new Mazda 3, due to
launch in 2019.
Put it all together and the prognosis for diesel in
cars doesn’t look good. It’s hard to see it recovering,
easy to imagine it wasting away. Wonder when the
funeral will be?IT’S NOT YET COUGHING UP BLOOD, BUT THE DIESEL CAR DOESN’T LOOK
HEALTHY LATELY. COMPRESSION-IGNITION INTERNAL COMBUSTION WAS
INVENTED IN EUROPE, WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS
MOST WELCOME AND MOST POPULAR.
Diesel will keep
on truckin’
The future of diesel cars
may be bleak, but the fuel
is not going to disappear
any time soon. No emergent
technology looks ready to
take the place of diesel in
long-distance trucks, some
railway locomotives, ships or
conventional submarines.But now, even in countries where diesel was
warmly embraced, it’s being given the cold
shoulder. Even Italy. Unlike other major markets
in Europe, such as Germany, France, Spain and
the UK, Italians kept buying diesel passenger cars
after the VW Dieselgate scandal broke in late 2015.
That’s beginning to change.
The decline in diesel’s share of the Italian market
through the early months of 2018 is small; less than
two percent. But the nation’s best car monthly,
Quattroruote, believes this is the beginning of the
end. All the signs point in the same downward
direction, the magazine notes in a solid piece of
market analysis.
Demand for second-hand hybrids is rising in Italy,
pushing their prices upwards. New hybrid sales
are soaring, up 32 percent to the end of the first
quarter. Although EV sales are tiny compared with
hybrids, pure battery-powered plug-ins are surging
too, up 72 percent in 2018.
Scandalous behaviour doesn’t bring the kind of
backlash in Italy it does in other places, as former
PM Silvio Berlusconi’s long political career proved.
But, according to Quattroruote, Italian car buyers
are beginning to take notice of what some of their
big-city politicians are saying. Virginia Raggi, the
mayor of Rome, announced plans in February to
ban diesels from the centre of the Eternal
City from 2024. Milan aims to do the
same by 2030.
Such proposals are proliferating
Europe-wide. Paris has a plan
to ban diesel. London, which
already has congestion
charging in its centre, recently
introduced an extra charge for
Buyers are both confused and suspicious about
diesel. Naturally enough, they’re steering clear
Jo hn
THE OILER IN TROUBLED WATERSSOOT
DOWN
AND
RELAX