Re: diesels smaller than (say) 2.0L?
I've not seen any evidence (yet) that this applies to (e.g.) diesels smaller than 2.0 L. In much of Europe a 2.0L turbodiesel is something that powers a *big* car.
I don't see why NOx emissions would miraculously and non-linearly stop being a problem for a (say) 1.4L diesel.
Thoughts, anyone?
It's all related to politicians' inability to do joined-up thinking. They've been convinced that CO2 is the devil's brew, so they set big tax penalties for high levels of CO2, oblivious to the fact that to get low CO2 with a diesel inevitably means high NO2.
Small engines consume less fuel, and so hitting CO2 targets such as "under 120g/km" where tax starts to increase is relatively easy with a 1.4, but getting a 2.0 diesel to meet those limits without excess NO2 is much harder. Basically, small engines don't need to try so hard, and so have less incentive to cheat.
If politicians accepted that high CO2 maps to high fuel consumption, which already has tax consequences, and looked at the big picture instead, this situation would never have happened.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
