Ford Grand C-MAX - Diesel dilemma due to Supreme Court pollution case

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Thu 30 Apr 2015 14:11
Ford Grand C-MAX - Diesel dilemma due to Supreme Court pollution case - Ravenger

I see the Supreme Court has ruled that the UK government has to start reducing NOX pollution levels immediately, which suggests that diesel cars may be taxed heavily and/or prohibited from city centres in the near future.

Trouble is I've just last week put a deposit on a new 1.6 diesel Grand C-Max! I got a pretty good deal on the current model with an excellent trade in value for my current car. Otherwise I would have waited for the release of the facelift with the newer engine.

It's made even harder by not knowing who the next government will be and what ways they'll try to achieve their target. Even the Euro 6 engines look like they'll be targeted.

Seriously considering cancelling the sale now, even though I'd lose my deposit, or seeing if I can get the dealer to change it to petrol, though my mileage more than justifies diesel.

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Thu 30 Apr 2015 15:07
Ford Grand C-MAX - Diesel dilemma due to Supreme Court pollution case - brum

Afaik The government has been given until the end of this year to produce a plan. I didnt see any mention of implementation.They are 5 years late in implementing an EU directive, dont see that a few more years will make any difference especially if we leave the EU. ;)

NOx is a problem for all internal combustion engines including petrol, albeit diesels allegedy produce approx twice as much as petrol. Most Nox however is produced by power stations, trains, ships etc.

It will be interesting to see whether the government chooses a carrot or stick approach, scrappage or higher taxes. Higher taxes I suspect.

I wonder if car manufacturers have investigated water injection as an easy method of reducing NOx?

Edited by brum on 30/04/2015 at 15:11

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Thu 30 Apr 2015 17:19
Ford Grand C-MAX - Diesel dilemma due to Supreme Court pollution case - Ravenger

Apparently Euro 6 diesels produce only slightly more NOx vs petrol - 0.080 vs 0.060, so seems silly they would be targeted.

One would hope that Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesels would escape the highest tax rises, but my biggest concern is the setup of low-emission zones outside of London which could affect my daily commute between two cities.

I prefer diesel for the way it drives, and as I live in a hilly area, the extra torque comes in very useful.

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