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Looking For Clean German Diesels In California Won't Be A Problem By 2008

Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler cars and trucks will pass Californian emission tests with flying colors.

Diesel cars carrying Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, VW, or Audi logos will be common in California by 2008 as DaimlerChrysler and VW are developing over 10 Bluetec models.

While diesel engines are found in 50pct of new cars sold, figures in US report that only one in 50 new cars sold is diesel-powered.

The diesel engine economy supremacy over gas engines is undisputed, yet their once noisy and "smelly" character rendered them "unattractive" to US consumers. Diesel engines had another enemy in the US, namely the incredibly high sulfur concentration, compared to European diesel fuel.

Now low-sulfur diesel can be found in the States, so diesel masters VW and Daimler focused on introducing the "diesel-move" to the US, after taking diesel engines from the "pooh...tractor engines with tractor fuel" mentality, to "wow..i can drive 50 percent more at the same price, with a lot more power available at a lot lower rpms."

DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen announced the Bluetec initiative in Hollywood, before the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Bluetec initiative is based on a emission-cleaning technology (special filters to trap particulate matter that causes sooty emissions) created by Mercedes, looking get their engines to pass US diesel emission tests.

Bluetec-carrying models already launched include Mercedes E320, Mercedes ML SUV and Mercedes R-Class sport wagon, with the Mercedes GL due to be Bluetec-ed in 2007.

Volkswagen's Bluetec-like engine is a 4-cylinder powering Jetta and new Tiguan SUV; the Touareg and Passat will receive "California clean" diesel engines by 2009.

The companies Mercedes or DaimlerChrysler, VW and its Audi division, are convinced that up-to-date diesel propulsion systems play a major part in efficient and clean mobility. With their high torque, agility, economy and robustness they display all the qualities which American customers, especially, appreciate.

The systems employed by BLUETEC serve in particular to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) -- the only constituent part of the exhaust gases which, due to the design of the diesel, inherently lies above the value for petrol engines. In this way it will in future also be possible to meet the strict limits imposed by the State of California.

Depending on the vehicle class concerned, various NOx treatment systems can be used. In one version, for instance, an oxidizing catalytic converter and a particulate filter are combined with a further improved, particularly long-life NOx storage converter. Another way of cutting NOx emissions is even more effective. In this case for example AdBlue, a water-based additive, is injected into the exhaust gas. This causes ammonia to be released, which in turn reduces the nitrogen oxides almost completely to harmless nitrogen and water in a downstream SCR catalytic converter.