New diesels are perfectly clean in real life

Car manufacturers have done their homework well, according to a press release issued today by ACEA, their European association. Measurements involving some 270 new types of diesel cars type-approved against the latest Euro 6d-temp standard  performed well below the NOx threshold of the real driving emissions (RDE) test, which applies to all new car types since September 2017.

Better still, most of these vehicles show results that are below the stricter NOx threshold that will be mandatory from January 2020, when Euro 6d takes effect. That is encouraging news for fleet managers who would like to continue ordering diesels from an economic point of view, but were anxious to do so because of the fuel’s bad reputation and uncertain future.

We need diesel

According to Erik Jonnaert, ACEA Secretary General, these new findings prove that modern diesel cars, supported by fleet renewal policies and combined with alternative powertrains, will play a strong role in helping cities move towards compliance with air quality targets. “In parallel, diesel vehicles will continue to remain important for reducing CO2 emissions in the short and medium term, even though all manufacturers are expanding their offer of electrically-chargeable cars.”

“Auto makers have made major investments to quickly deliver these massive reductions in NOx emissions. It is important that we stop demonising diesel technology as a whole. Instead, we need to differentiate between the old diesel fleet and the latest generation of vehicles.”

Up to 99 per cent less NOx

These findings are supported by third parties. ADAC recently performed independent on-road testing of RDE-compliant diesel vehicles and found that modern diesels emit 85 per cent less NOx on average than Euro 5 cars. Their additional testing demonstrated that the best-performing RDE-compliant Euro 6 diesels emit up to 99 percent less NOx than Euro 5 vehicles.