Why pick on diesel?

[gavroche]

They should tax all fossil fuel vehicles in the same way. Diesel isn't perfect but petrol isn't either.

Honda had the perfect solution: hydrogen cars. No pollution whatsoever, only clean water but of course, no revenues for the Government or Oil Companies so it is a no go.

 

[Drago]

And petrol engines don't have the same amount of electronic gadgetry?

Probably less in many regards these days. I minored in combustion physics for my Masters.

 

[Profpointy]

Honda had the perfect solution: hydrogen cars. No pollution whatsoever, only clean water but of course, no revenues for the Government or Oil Companies so it is a no go.

Asuming this isn't just sarcasm you do realise hydrogen is just a way of moving energy & polution from the point of use to the hydrogen factory

 

[gavroche]

Asuming this isn't just sarcasm you do realise hydrogen is just a way of moving energy & polution from the point of use to the hydrogen factory

Possibly but some pollution is part of life and cannot be avoided. The only act of breathing is polluting. My point is that money will always come first as the world is governed by making money.

 

[tyred]

Transport without electronics

 

[Brandane]

Transport without electronics

Or to take it to ridiculous extremes, some nobbers use one of these things:

 

[ColinJ]

Transport without electronics

But don't forget the methane from horse farts!

 

[tyred]

Or to take it to ridiculous extremes, some nobbers use one of these things:

You'll save on vets bills but a well trained horse will take you home from the pub no matter how drunk you get

On the other hand the bike won't bite or kick you or throw you off.

 

[mr messy]

But don't forget the methane from horse farts!

They should have saddle tanks to collect then can cook your beans without cutting down a tree

 

[mr messy]

You'll save on vets bills but a well trained horse will take you home from the pub no matter how drunk you get

On the other hand the bike won't bite or kick you or throw you off.

...or steal your sugar lumps

 

[Brandane]

I also believe that a modern diesel engine, well set and maintained is no more polluting than a petrol car.

I am no expert, but maybe this is the problem? How many diesel cars are "well set and maintained"? A significant proportion of diesels that I see deposit a cloud of carcinogenic particles among the black cloud of exhaust smoke when they accelerate in anything but the gentlest of fashion. Is this because they are being used in an environment where they never get a good clear out in the form of a long run? City based taxis for example, spend most of their working life driving at low revs and at low speeds in urban traffic. It is my understanding that diesel engines work best when given a good motorway blast to clear out their fuel and exhaust systems and keep various filters operating as they were intended. So it doesn't seem unreasonable to discourage them from city environments.

 

[ColinJ]

You'll save on vets bills but a well trained horse will take you home from the pub no matter how drunk you get

Not if you are too drunk to remember where you tethered the horse, or are incapable of mounting it!

 

[srw]

Possibly but some pollution is part of life and cannot be avoided. The only act of breathing is polluting. My point is that money will always come first as the world is governed by making money.

Go and look up PM10s and Nitrous Oxide, then come back and tell us that diesel is no worse in cities than petrol.

 

[NorthernDave]

Plenty of petrol cars doing 50mpg or there about. I am a diesel user but would prefer to be running a petrol engine, if only for the reliabilty, trouble is I need a large estate car and until the more economical petrol engined one's come into my price range I will have to to stay with them.

To be fair, there are lots of manufacturers claiming that their petrol engined cars will do 50mpg (or more). There are very few cars actually doing 50mpg in everyday use though, especially in cities where the main problems are.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...wo-cars-deliver-advertised-mileage-tests-show

But, much like the emissions scandal, the manufacturers seem to be getting away with advertising figures that are unachievable in the real world.

It seems odd that politicians of every hue have spent the last 20 years doing everything they can to encourage people to buy diesel, but now it's the fuel of Satan and must be taxed!
Surely if it was that dangerous they'd be taking all these killer cars off the roads?
Or is it simply another way of raising taxes?

 

[gavroche]

To be fair, there are lots of manufacturers claiming that their petrol engined cars will do 50mpg (or more). There are very few cars actually doing 50mpg in everyday use though, especially in cities where the main problems are.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...wo-cars-deliver-advertised-mileage-tests-show

But, much like the emissions scandal, the manufacturers seem to be getting away with advertising figures that are unachievable in the real world.

It seems odd that politicians of every hue have spent the last 20 years doing everything they can to encourage people to buy diesel, but now it's the fuel of Satan and must be taxed!
Surely if it was that dangerous they'd be taking all these killer cars off the roads?
Or is it simply another way of raising taxes?

That's exactly what it is. Look at " road tax" for example. Before, if your car was producing less than 100mg/km co2, like mine ( 1.5 diesel), you were 0 rated for road tax. The government realised it was losing so much money that from next April all new cars will have to pay a minimum of £150 road tax. Like I keep saying, money always comes first, pollution second.