Stuttgart, home to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, said it will ban diesel cars which do not meet the latest emissions standards from entering the city when pollution is heavy.
That’s it. Diesel is dead.
Please consider Germany’s Stuttgart Set to Ban Some Diesel Cars from City Center.
Stuttgart, home to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, said on Tuesday it will ban from next year diesel cars which do not meet the latest emissions standards from entering the city on days when pollution is heavy.
Only around 10 percent of diesel cars in use on German roads at the start of 2016 conformed with the “Euro 6” standard, which is the latest EU anti-pollution rule.
Engines which adhere to the standard produce fewer nitrogen oxide fine particle emissions, which cause respiratory disease.
Particulates often exceed thresholds set by the European Union in at least 90 German towns, including Stuttgart, which is particularly affected because it is in a valley.
Germany has already been sued by the EU for exceeding those thresholds for more than a maximum of 35 days per year.
Exceptions to the ban in Stuttgart, which is the capital of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and governed by a coalition of the environmental Greens and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, could be granted for goods vehicles.
Munich Too!
Eurointelligence reports:
Frankfurter Allgemeine leads its business section with the decision by the state government of Baden-Wuerttemberg to ban diesel cars in Stuttgart, the state capital. Stuttgart is Germany’s equivalent of Motown, the home of both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Furthermore, a court in Bavaria has asked the state government to consider a similar ban for Munich. The sales statistics also support the trend against the diesel car. In February, the number of diesel cars sold sank by 10%, while the rest of the market was largely stable.
Frankfurter Allgemeine is really incensed about this trend. The diesel cars have fewer carbon dioxide emissions, and Germany will find it harder to meet its climate goals if people switch from diesel to petrol. The problem with diesel is, of course, the pollution by an emission of fine particles, the concentration of which is particularly high in big cities.
Around 90% of all German diesel cars – those that do not fulfill the Euro 6 emissions norms – are affected. There are further court cases in favor of a similar rule for the cities of Berlin, Essen, Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt and Mainz, FAZ reports. This means that diesel will become a rogue technology very soon. Owners of diesel cars may be able to sue for compensation, but the political trend in Germany is now clearly against diesel technology.
So, who wants a car that cannot be used in some circumstances, and may not be allowed in the future at all?
And if Germany halts Diesel production, can the US (led by California) be far behind?
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Diesel is ‘dead’, so long as there are other abundant, inexpensive alternatives. Just like nuclear power is ‘dead’ in Japan, and coal is ‘dead’ in the U.S.
We’ll soon find out what Germany’s threshold for pain is.
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Old black cabs are dead in the water. A few EV alternatives becoming available. Wouldn’t trust the testing regime as VW illustrates. In the UK we were told to consider carefully before buying diesel in future and take account of the type of trips. Intra city, OK, inner city possibly not.
1) likely to be a scrappage scheme.
2) expect higher road taxes for diesel.
3) expect fuel tax adder to diesel.
3) is most interesting as it feeds through to haulage costs and therefore inflation.
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It must be bad because the government says so. When have they ever been wrong. This ban surely must be excluding trucks?
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There is only so much that refineries can do in the distilling process to change the output of different products. So, what is the EU going to do with all the left over diesel? Home heating oil is very close to diesel so they could divert the production that way as an alternative to natural gas and they would still have the same problem. My guess is that political pressure from oil companies and refiners will keep diesel on the market as this story slowly goes away.
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Great news!! It’s time we start making better decisions in this world. If profit is the main motivating factor in our decision making then we would hire people as slaves. ohh, we did and we still have slaves in 2017 in many places around the world.
Goodbye Diesel, I won’t miss you. 🙂
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All larger heavy duty vehicles are diesel, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I’ve never liked diesel automobiles because of the pollution, however.
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This is my thought too. In the US, not only do large trucks get a bye on air pollution standards, the pickups do also apparently. Rolling coal is a favorite pastime in my area, and pickups are the largest selling vehicle in the US.
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This land is my land,
This land is – TRASHED!
“Rolling Coal”
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You do realize those are few and far between, and are set up purposely for show to make all that noise and smoke?
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CNG and LNG are both trying to make inroads on Diesel as the primary fuel for larger vehicles. At this point it’s largely a function of price. If Oil goes back to $100/barrel, the payback for converting to natural gas will drop to under 2 years, and the pace of conversions will accelerate dramatically. I drive a CNG vehicle myself, and with gas at $2.20/gallon, payback is about 5 years, less if you factor in less maintenance and much longer engine life, but still not great. Gas was at $4.20/gallon when I ordered it, with a payback at 2 years, which was very attractive.
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Ironically, bio-diesel produces more nitrogen oxide emissions than regular diesel. On the other hand, some studies have found that nitrogen oxide has a “global cooling” effect.
Another thought: Are they going to ban the diesel engined ships (commercial & cruise) from entering the ports of the coastal cities with pollution issues?
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They will come up with some scrappage scheme.
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I love my diesel and the black exhaust that comes spurting out of it when I turn it on…
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Dealing with protesters against Trump. “Coal Rolling” works. Long live diesel.
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Absolute and abject stupidity.
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It was an anti-protest. Exercising his 1st Amendment right.
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Absolute and abject stupidity.
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“Stupid is as stupid does” doofus.
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Unlike the US where diesel private cars are rare (and could therefore die), in Europe they make for 55% of new cars. Thus, the title of this post is utterly disconnected from reality. Diesel is not dead, and not even very ill. We may see some engine management modifications, but that’s it. The only thing to kill diesel will be electric, and that WILL happen, but not very soon
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When cities outlaw diesel who will want to buy a diesel car?
It may take a while but shorter than you think.
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Mish, according to the quoted articles, these bans appear to apply to older vehicles that do not meet current emission standards. This might have some negative effect on new vehicle sales, but I don’t think they will go to 0. One might find the value of their old diesel vehicle near 0, however.
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Given the VW prosecution for tricking up diesel emissions, do any newer model diesel driven cars actually meet emission standards in real life?
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If they don’t, I’m sure it will become news soon. In the wake of the VW scandal, the EPA and various state air quality agencies have stepped up real world testing to detect the kind of special programming VW employed to pass the static emissions testing.
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Old black cabs are dead in the water. A few EV alternatives becoming available. Wouldn’t trust the testing regime as VW illustrates. In the UK we were told to consider carefully before buying diesel in future and take account of the type of trips. Intra city, OK, inner city possibly not.
1) likely to be a scrappage scheme.
2) expect higher road taxes for diesel.
3) expect fuel tax adder to diesel.
3) is most interesting as it feeds through to haulage costs and therefore inflation.
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it’s not just about the engine/emissions… it’s also about the fuel.
Petrodiesel has probably peaked, but Biodiesel is just getting started…
diesel engine applications are far broader than just over-the-road passenger cars. diesel engines & diesel fuel isn’t going anywhere for a long time…
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Paris has already banned pre 2000 diesel cars. Madrid, Athens and Mexico city have also declared that all diesel cars will be banned as from 2025. London and the U.K. will be following suit and probably a hoist of other cities and coutries were atmospheric conditions are unfavorable.
A mad scramble form lower CO2 emissions drove the diesel car revolution. The Nitrous oxide emission were ignored in the mad rush.
Tony Blair has admitted that encouraging diesel engine cars was probably a good idea at the time with unintended consequences.
The sheer numbers of diesel engine cars overwhelms the commercial truck fleets. Trucks will be diesel for as long as it is still a viable fuel.
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Tony Blair and unintended consequences.
How many times have those two “things” skipped down the road hand in hand?
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If this trend continues, it will lead to rising gasoline prices in the states.
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Yikes! Now Toyota is telling us to “Enjoy the thrill of driving while you still can.”
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Pickups built since 2010 do not get a bye from the federal and CA diesel emission standards. My 2016 model has SCR and DPF for reduction of NOx and particulates. There is no diesel smell to the exhaust and the tailpipe looks like it just came off the assembly line – no soot. All of which is a moot point, as I live in a small town on the northern CA coast. Our air comes off 3000 miles of open ocean and the density of vehicles isn’t high enough to have a material effect on air quality. Within the last two weeks gas prices here have gone up by about 30 cents, but diesel has been stable, and is now 10 cents less than regular gas.
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Have a 3 liter diesel Ram crew cab 4×4 truck that gets better than 30mpg on the highway and 24mpg in the city, no soot, no smell, no smoke…ever. And the same for my Mercedes SUV diesel. I love them. I hope the stupid Europeans outlaw diesel as it will force prices even lower for us. Plus China is building massive diesel refineries which will put even more into supply.
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When push comes to shove, in any ultimate standoff between diesel and emissions standards,,,diesel gets my wager as the winner. The world runs on diesel. And the ever ready bunny only goes forever on TV.
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perception can be reality. and the perception is that for diesel to pass the emissions test the automakers had to cheat. no public relations firm can get past this regardless of ad budget.
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Many manufacturers meet emissions standards today. Only a few thought it “economically advantageous ” to cheat.
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I’m not expert, but even today’s emission standards don’t address the problem, which is the size of particulates in the emissions. The super small ones are thought in some circles to be as bad as asbestos for the lungs.
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Yes. I agree diesel’s days are over. But over here in the U.S. Trump thinks he can turn the clock back on coal which is on a similar trajectory.
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Driverless trucks may be widespread in the near future, but they will still be diesel powered. As of now, there is no viable alternative to the Diesel engine for moving an 80K lbs truck over long distances.
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some fleets are experimenting with natural gas fueled vehicles. thought the article was mostly referring to consumer cars. agree diesel trucks may take a bit longer.
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Germans rolling out clean coal power stations.
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Oh my. German snowflakes moving into position of power. Diesel is dead until the oil price climbs back to 150-200$/barrel range.
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So true. My fleet miles per gallon nearly doubled when I converted to diesel from gas back in the day. And the 02 I kept after shutting down the business is still running strong.
In business, efficiency counts.
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Leftist HATE individual freedom. This is why the left has such an all out assault on private auto ownership. Having your own transportation means you are not reliant (thus controlled in movement) by the government.
As long as Americans remain free, I could care less how stupid the rest of the world gets.
Fuel and auto prices will drop as other markets no longer use them, and producers compete in a smaller market place. AMERICANS WIN!
Frankly, when America wins, the world wins, as we drive the economic and innovative foundations of all of mankind.
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Mish, thought you’d be interested. This is more than photography.
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The Rescued Film Project
http://www.rescuedfilm.com/
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Lord have mercy
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I am not an over the top environmentalist or global warming believer, but we must all admit that certain cities are beginning to have serious pollution problems. Los Angeles for one in America. I am sure New York is another. When you concentrate enough people and industries in a small geographical area, pollution of all types occur. In these areas extreme steps must be taken to keep air quality breathable. Beijing is a good case of pollution out of control. Banning Diesel vehicles in these areas may not be a bad idea along with other air quality measures.
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actually the best solution for high pollution areas would be to privatize the superhighways. If drivers had to pay the full cost of driving via tolls; VMT would plummet an air quality would skyrocket
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Who will calculate this “full cost” and if collected as taxes or fees, will it actually be used for that purpose?
http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/03/01/mike-huckabee-justice-department-slush-fund-republicans-la-raza-banks
So many worthwhile causes.
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Under privatization, the company operating the roadway would determine the toll to use it, and all the proceeds would go to paying the CEO’s exorbitant salary, using the same model as the drug companies. Think Epipen, and enjoy knowing that your $50/day toll goes to the benefit of a few already well off folks. At least most governmental largess, although bad, benefits more people.
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The way German industry/government collaboration works, is that industry creates new products that are good, and solve genuine problems. But, in order to support the kind of wages Germans are accustomed to, are almost inevitably very expensive. So, government steps in, and makes it really hard for people not to buy the new, expensive stuff that keeps the machine rolling.
What these bans really mean, is that German automakers have diesel hybrid technology in the wings. The high speeds on the Autobahn makes full electrics almost useless, as their range goes to zero as speeds, hence power demands, go up. So instead, expect a barrage of diesel electric hybrid plugin cars. With 100+ mile electric only range at nominally zero emissions, for use in cities. And low CO2 emitting, high efficiency ultra complex hence almost impossible for anyone outside Germany to compete with, diesel engines for inter city highway use.
It is functionally a good solution. Diesel is very efficient for highway distances, particularly at high loads. And NOx and particulate emissions aren’t really a problem out in the open, where it gets diluted. While battery electrics are ideal in cities.
The main downside, as with all things German, is cost. Modern diesel tech is expensive. Batteries are expensive. Running around with two expensive drive trains is doubly expensive. And the complexity of it all, makes repairs and maintenance and certification expensive Which suits high paid German technicians just fine, even if the average Greek consumer may not be quite so sanguine about it.
But, as long as government makes it harder and harder not to suck it up and bear the cost, eventually, all backwards ass untermenschen who expect to share first country, then continent, with perfect Germans, will just have to suck it up and pay. As, once the laws are in place in Germany, the Herr Doktors will soon head over to the watering hole that is Brussels, and show the drunks a bunch of “irrefutable” studies demonstrating how much healthier for both lungs and Gaja the new tech is. So then, the rest of Europe will have no choice but opening their wallets as well…..
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such bans will only last until we start seeing diesel/electric hybrid trucks/cars.
make a distinction b/t petro-diesel & biodiesel. biodiesel production/use worldwide is likely to grow, not diminish, imo.
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“Diesel is Dead”
No, its not!. Let me explain….
For a given amount of oil you get one gallon of petrol, a by-product of getting that “one gallon of petrol” is you get TWO gallons of diesel.
Can you see in a world of diminishing oil reserves that all that diesel will be discarded!!!. Folks it ain’t going to happen.
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According to the EIA at this link
http://www.eia.gov/Energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_refining#tab3
19 gallons of gasoline and 12 gallons of diesel fuel are refined from a 42 gallon barrel of crude oil.
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Bryant,
I go back to the times when Diesel invented the diesel engine, the figures I gave were the ones given at that time, maybe changed since then (different technology?). The amount of waste off diesel at that time was the reason Diesel invented the diesel engine.
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Diesel is not quite dead yet but it is being rushed to Parkland Hospital. Not of natural causes but a shot from a grassy knoll.
My question is this:
My diesel vechicles usually get about 50% better fuel economy than their gasoline equivalents. This collectivly takes a large number of fuel trucks off the road which lowers the total amount of NOS and CO2 my diesel vehicle is actually responsible for adding to the atmosphere. Do the big brains doing the math factor that in? Fewer Oil tanker ships? Fewer oil tanker trains? Less electricity generated for oil Pipeline pumps?
I doubt it. Why? Because I always hear about how wonderful nuclear steam generators are as they don’t put any CO2 into the atmosphere. So the uranium ore mining equipment doesn’t count? It takes a lot of high quality steel to make all those transportation and storage casks, yet all CO2 and other actual pollutants generated in that process obviously cannot be factored in either. If these people are going to count in parts per million then they should be including everything down to the gas burned by the security guards traveling to and from their job guarding the spent fuel stockpiles.
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There you go, getting all analytical about it. The key to green solutions is to ignore all the other associated costs of creating these tech wonders and then disposing of their wastes and dead carcasses afterwords.
Can’t wait to read of the “super fund” battery dump cleanup sites.
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“Engines which adhere to the standard produce fewer nitrogen oxide fine particle emissions, which cause respiratory disease.”
According to Wikipedia, gasoline engines also produce NOx admissions, especially as they get older:
“A gasoline engine starts off cleaner than the diesel in NOx terms but increases such that beyond 50,000 miles the gas/petrol engine produces more NOx than the equivalent diesel” – Wikipedia (‘Diesel fuel’)
So perhaps they will soon ban cars with over 50k miles? Both of my cars have over 220k miles and the diesel (1981 Mercedes 240D) is nearing 300k. If they ban diesel cars, there won’t be diesel pumps at gas stations a whole lot longer so I’ll probably have to junk it or use vegetable oil.
Whatever governments do, will not be based on reason – especially when it comes to environmental ‘science’. Just look at the HOV madness. It’s down to HOV-2 in Phoenix and they build $20m bridges just for HOVers so they can merge on to other highways without crossing the non-HOV lanes.
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Most grand piston engine improvement ideas don’t make it to the production phase. But this one seems pretty far along, and modern electronics have definitely enhanced engine operation and efficiency; and improved emissions. Diesel death chances at this time may be only 50/50. http://www.motortrend.com/news/at-least-one-automaker-plans-to-produce-an-opposed-piston-engine/
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Germany continues to live in La La Land, as it exits non-polluting nuclear and subsidises uneconomic power production, such as wind and biogas. As the EU and the Eurozone implode will Germany be able to continue to live in its dream state?
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