Skip to main content

New clean diesel cars and light trucks to ‘help US achieve greenhouse gas reductions’

Advances in emissions control technology in clean diesel passenger cars and light duty pickup trucks will have a positive effect on efforts to reduce future Greenhouse Gas Emissions, according to the federal government’s newly-released Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR). The Draft TAR, which covers vehicle model years 2022-2025, confirms that automotive manufacturers are introducing new technology to market at a rapid pace, and predicts that the MY 2022-2025 standards are achievable with a wide ran
July 25, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Advances in emissions control technology in clean diesel passenger cars and light duty pickup trucks will have a positive effect on efforts to reduce future Greenhouse Gas Emissions, according to the federal government’s newly-released Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR).
 
The Draft TAR, which covers vehicle model years 2022-2025, confirms that automotive manufacturers are introducing new technology to market at a rapid pace, and predicts that the MY 2022-2025 standards are achievable with a wide range of technologies.

According to a mid-term evaluation by the 324 US Department of Transportation (DOT), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the California Air Resource Board (CARB), despite recent EPA and California ARB compliance actions with respect to light-duty diesel NOx emissions, diesel engines remain a technology for the reduction of GHG emissions from light-duty vehicles. Advances in NOx and PM emissions control technology are bringing light duty diesels fully into compliance with Federal Tier 3 and California LEV III emissions standards at a cost that is competitive with the cost-effectiveness of other high efficiency, advanced engine technologies.
 
The Draft TAR states that diesel engines are continuing to evolve using technologies similar to those being introduced in new light-duty gasoline engines and heavy-duty diesel truck engines, including the use of advanced friction reduction measures, increased turbocharger boosting and engine downsizing and the improved integration of exhaust emissions control systems for criteria pollutant control, among others.
 
According to the Draft TAR, the best Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) - a measure of energy efficiency - of advanced diesel engines under development for light duty applications is now 46 percent and thus is approaching that of heavy-duty diesel truck engines.  In contrast, gasoline engines today achieve around 37 per cent.
 
The draft report also summarises the results of commissioned research surveying auto reviews of advanced fuel economy technologies.  Three-out-of-four auto writers and auto analysts report a favourable rating for diesel technology concerning consumer acceptance, which was among the highest rated powertrains.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Plug-in EV sales in North America ‘expected to exceed 1.1 million by 2024’
    May 29, 2015
    According to a new report from Navigant Research, North American plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales are expected to exceed 1.1 million annually by 2024. The report, Electric Vehicle Geographic Forecasts, analyses the North American market for light duty plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including detailed geographic forecasts of PEV sales by US state, metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Canadian province, Canadian city, and selected utility service area.
  • Aimsun shows latest release of mobility software
    March 21, 2018
    The Aimsun team is here at Intertraffic to showcase the latest release of Aimsun Next mobility modelling software, which includes options for modelling air pollutants. This new emissions model measures CO2 and NOx emissions from configurable fleets of European vehicles and will be extended to North American fleets in the future It is available in microscopic and mesoscopic simulations. The latest version of Aimsun Next incorporates the average-speed London Emissions Model (LEM), developed by Transport for
  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
  • DoTs can benefit from high fibre content
    January 14, 2020
    Existing fibre architecture may be one of the most important assets for DoTs going forward: Skyline’s Paul Lennon explains the importance of evaluating ITS network infrastructure maturity