Diesel decline - premature?

[Deleted User 1874]

The problem with EU 6 is that many vehicles that pass the test still pollute many times more in actual real world driving.

But isn't that true for all vehicles, petrol or diesel, ie real-world emission levels are substantially higher than the standard test results. So EU6 vehicles should still be a major step forwards vs older ones. There's nothing special AFAIK about the EU6 results particularly. So moving all ICE vehicles to EU6 (and then EU7 etc) should very considerably cut down on the amount of pollution.

I agree, the whole emissions testing regime is a farce until it actually reflects real world emissions. When I read reports about my Qashqai pumping out 10x more NOx than the EU6 limit then I know the test procedure is critically flawed. Very few cars indeed perform anywhere near the test limits in real world driving conditions. How does the diesel Macan perform in this respect? Even the German government deemed it to have excessive NOx emissions. The UK government appears to be sweeping the issue under the carpet.

[andreas]

Is it just me that finds all this EV stuff a bit tedious? To my mind it's starting to 'pollute' this Macan forum; it's everywhere, regardless of the initial subject of the thread.

I don't think it's particularly tedious; rather it's just part of the overall debate. No doubt it will become even more relevant in the next couple of years, when there are likely to be hybrid and electric Macans.

[Semerka]

Who knows what to believe nowadays, unless one is willing to spend a lot of time on proper research and educating oneself in different technologies to make an educated decision which car to buy. We already have at least three types of alternative propulsion, pure electrics and then two types of hybrids that either charge the batteries with their mini petrol engines or hybrids that need to be plugged in to charge the batteries.

A few years ago the general public were fed the notion that diesel cars were the best things since sliced bread and petrol was for sinners, failing to point out that that was only true for long distance travel and not for pottering around locally. I wonder what surprises are lurking behind the EV's, what the general public are not being told now.

Perhaps we should just stop buying new cars so often since that in itself would save a lot of natural resources / pollution / emissions as less cars would need to be produced. You would just need to choose very carefully, to buy the best car you can and the one you really want, not just as a fashion statement.

Though, the automotive industry would be much poorer.

Call me a sceptic, but It's all about money, in the end.

[Deleted User 1874]

A few years ago the general public were fed the notion that diesel cars were the best things since sliced bread and petrol was for sinners, failing to point out that that was only true for long distance travel and not for pottering around locally. I wonder what surprises are lurking behind the EV's, what the general public are not being told now.

Can't say I ever bought into that idea except for a diesel being cheaper to run for long distance driving. I've bought my fair share of everyday diesel cars for that reason and because I marginally preferred them to their gutless petrol equivalents at the time, but I've never thought diesels were amazing to drive or environmentally friendly. Of course EVs are not perfect either, but I certainly prefer them to diesels at this point on every level.

[ScotMac]

Good point about not buying new cars so often.

I think the same should apply to most objects. No reason a fridge shouldn't last a lifetime or at least 25 years. Most things you buy now are just crap so that they fail just after the warranty period meaning you have to buy a new one.

Where are all the old crap batteries and motors from the electric vehicles going to end up? No doubt in China or India

[Deleted User 1874]

Where are all the old crap batteries and motors from the electric vehicles going to end up? No doubt in China or India

They can be almost fully recycled or re-used in lower power applications. Quite a bit of debate going on at the moment about these two options. They are also lasting much longer than originally expected and as a result many of the recycling schemes are lying mostly idle waiting for a suitable supply of "old crap batteries" to actually appear.

[Semerka]

Good point about not buying new cars so often.

I think the same should apply to most objects. No reason a fridge shouldn't last a lifetime or at least 25 years. Most things you buy now are just crap so that they fail just after the warranty period meaning you have to buy a new one.

I agree, it does not apply just to cars.

If one wants to live a more environmentally friendly life, then consume less in every aspect. Driving a battery powered vehicle does not necessarily make us environmentally friendly in the overall sense.

[Deleted User 1874]

If one wants to live a more environmentally friendly life, then consume less in every aspect. Driving a battery powered vehicle does not necessarily make us environmentally friendly in the overall sense.

Of course, you have to look critically at your whole lifestyle. Personal transport is just one aspect, but probably quite an important one. The next few generations will certainly have to get smarter than ours if they want a decent environment to live in.

[Sidscott]

This thread is starting to look like a party political broadcast on behalf of the Green Party!
Its called The Macan Forum... Macans are petrol or diesel... we all want to live in a better world but lets get real everybody and stop being holier than thou!

[johnd]

This thread ...

Which does happen to be in the 'Off-topic chat' section.