MOTORING The end of the road for diesel?
DIESEL cars are a toxic hot topic, causing concern and confusion among millions of drivers who own one. The arguments have left many motorists confused and the Volkswagen‘ diesel gate’ emissions scandal has added to the controversy. Nearly 1.3 million diesel cars were sold in Britain last year — 48 per cent of total sales. But that has dropped. In recent weeks:
ACADEMICS, environmentalists and doctors have demanded diesels be taken off the road.
LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a £10 per day ‘toxicity tax’ — on top of the congestion charge —for diesel cars that are more than a decade old, taking the total to £21.50.
DRIVERS in Westminster face a 50 per cent diesel surcharge for on-street parking, while Liverpool hopes to ban diesel cars.
THE Chancellor Philip Hammond will ‘ explore the appropriate tax treatment for diesels’ ahead of his autumn Budget.
So is it ‘RIP diesel’? Not yet, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which has warned against the ‘anti-diesel agenda’.
So how did we get here and how will it end? Invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel in 1892, for years, it was an economical workhorse fuel. By the Nineties, it was encouraged because it produces about 15 per cent lower levels of carbon dioxide — blamed for global warming — than petrol.
Duty on low-sulphur diesel was cut to encourage greater take- up. But there was a fatal flaw. Older diesel engines — and even some newer ones — spew out a lot more nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide and pollutant particles than petrol engines. These are linked to health problems such as asthma, heart and lung diseases and premature births. Many drivers now feel rightly duped. The testing regime is inadequate and will be replaced in September. Independent tests show wide variations, with the worst performing modern diesel more than 20 times over the nitrogen dioxide limit when tested in real world, on-road driving.
Consumer watchdog Which? analysed 278 diesel cars between 2012 and 2016.
Renault and Jeep were among the biggest air polluters; BMW and Mini were among the best.