Chrysler Eco Diesel Emissions Tests by EPA maybe another dieselgate

[Jimrules]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

When I first heard the news that VW had been cheating on its emissions tests, my first thought was that there will be other shoes to drop. Engineers talk to each other, and if one company is cheating its competitors will feel the competitive pressure to cheat as well. So I'm disappointed but not surprised to hear the news about Fiat / Chrysler. I'm sure by now regulators are looking closely at all the auto manufacturers, so there might be more news along these lines.

Bocsh was involved in both companies emissions systems, so the ideas wouldn't really have had to travel very far.

[freespirit]

looks like this issue may be getting a bit more active now in the news....
if FCA/RAM cheated it's a bit sad...and 2017 Ram Eco Diesel may not happen anytime soon either....

and it looks like there is another recall for a software bug in June for other Rams...

some times it seems like cars without computers were the best vehicles.... however ....like the backup camera and proximity sensors

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by freespirit

looks like this issue may be getting a bit more active now in the news....
if FCA/RAM cheated it's a bit sad...and 2017 Ram Eco Diesel may not happen anytime soon either....

and it looks like there is another recall for a software bug in June for other Rams...

some times it seems like cars without computers were the best vehicles.... however ....like the backup camera and proximity sensors

Hi: freespirit... You ain't seen nothin' yet!!! Ford already has F150's that can back up your trailer... Hands free Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Greg A]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: freespirit... You ain't seen nothin' yet!!! Ford already has F150's that can back up your trailer... Hands free Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

So, would that mean both the driver and passenger would go behind the trailer and wave their hands in wild gestures at the truck while it's backing in.

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: freespirit... You ain't seen nothin' yet!!! Ford already has F150's that can back up your trailer... Hands free Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Is it smart enough to back up a 5th wheel

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Ian and Sue

Is it smart enough to back up a 5th wheel

Unfortunately no - the programming is based on a trailer hitched at the bumper, and watching the trailer with the camera in the tailgate, so it cannot handle a trailer hitched in bed. The same method would certainly work for a fifth-wheel, but Ford has not set it up to do that.

With this system the driver turns a knob on the dash to directly control the angle between the truck and the trailer, instead of using the steering wheel to control the front wheel angle and thus indirectly the trailer angle.
Ford news release for Pro Trailer Backup Assist

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Ian and Sue

Is it smart enough to back up a 5th wheel

Hi: Ian and Sue... I don't know... but I know I can be replaced.
I'm hoping Ian & Jenny Eddy can make it over to Button Bay St. Pk. this fall. Last year was a wash out. We stayed there our selves then my wife got sick so we hurried back to our socialized med. side of the border!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[BCnomad]

http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...-diesel-output


Looks like the issue maybe resolved shortly?

[freespirit]

interesting article...FCA probably would not restart production unless they thought the issue was resolved...and with some grease$ for the gov agency's wheels in the form of a fine ...may give model year 2018 a look with the new software and new mpg numbers

[Mike Lewis]

I'm a bit surprised. I figured an emissions scandal the scale of VW's would sink Fiat Chrysler. Good luck to them.

[BCnomad]

http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...-by-regulators


Hopefully that includes the 1500s too.

[steve dunham]

There was an article stating that England and Europe are proposing to ban the sales of gasoline and diesel powered vehicle by the year 2040 except for commercial and industrial applications.
If they don't improve elecitric vehicle technology , I can envision the day when a travel trailer will be useless because an adequate tow vehicle will not be available.
Diesel vehicles in my estimation, even if it's the so called clean diesel are going to go the way of coal fired power plants.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

There was an article stating that England and Europe are proposing to ban the sales of gasoline and diesel powered vehicle by the year 2040 except for commercial and industrial applications.
If they don't improve elecitric vehicle technology , I can envision the day when a travel trailer will be useless because an adequate tow vehicle will not be available.
Diesel vehicles in my estimation, even if it's the so called clean diesel are going to go the way of coal fired power plants.

I doubt that diesel engines will become extinct, too many trucks, locomotives, ships use diesel fuel.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I doubt that diesel engines will become extinct, too many trucks, locomotives, ships use diesel fuel.

Like I said in my first post "Except for Commercial and Industrial vehicles " The law is aimed at pleasure / commuter vehicles .
They could also approach the problem not by banning gas or diesel vehicles but by raising the CAFE standards to 100 or 120 MPG.
I would venture that a vehicle that gets 120 MPG's is not going to be able to tow anything more than itself.
I've also read that the railroads and truck lines are also looking at switching to CNG.
When I was growing up , many homes had coal bins and heated with coal including mine. How many homes are heated with coal in 2017 ?

[BCnomad]

I've seen "electric assisted" long haul trains on occasion.


Will my next truck for towing be forced to be a one ton?

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Like I said in my first post "Except for Commercial and Industrial vehicles " The law is aimed at pleasure / commuter vehicles ....

Need to include agricultural equipment in that exception?? For the planting and harvesting of 99% of the plant-based foods we enjoy consuming in developed countries. Imagine empty grocery store shelves while tractors and combines sit in the middle of wheat and rice and corn and soybean fields with empty fuel tanks. I'm not sure how long it will take to develop a solar-powered wheat combine capable of harvesting 30,000 bushels of wheat a day, but it likely won't be in my lifetime.
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[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

There was an article stating that England and Europe are proposing to ban the sales of gasoline and diesel powered vehicle by the year 2040 except for commercial and industrial applications.

What I saw was about France (not all of Europe) and the U.K. (not just England). Also, the U.K. proposal is not a ban on gasoline or diesel at all, only a requirement that all vehicles use at least hybrid technology to reduce emissions (specifically NO2 emissions in the UK case). The reality is very different from the rumours, and the extremely poor performance of "journalists" - some of whom do not even appear to have read the UK policy announcement - is disappointing; if they read it, they would see and understand the reference to "conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans". Current hybrids meet this 2040 requirement.

The UK report identifies sources of NO2 emissions, and clearly shows that with current technology, diesel cars are far worse than gasoline (petrol) cars. Meeting increasingly stringent NOx emission requirements are the biggest challenge for manufacturers today; this is the category of emissions which VW decided to cheat on, and Fiat Chrysler has been having troubling meeting acceptably.

Originally Posted by steve dunham

If they don't improve elecitric vehicle technology , I can envision the day when a travel trailer will be useless because an adequate tow vehicle will not be available.

Certainly battery capacity is still a major problem for both long range and heavy loads, and traveling with an RV is both. Fortunately, with no end in sight for hybrid vehicles, and decades to further develop batteries, there's no foreseeable problem yet.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Need to include agricultural equipment in that exception??

No need to panic - the actual statement is:

The government will end the sale of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.

There's no need for a long list of exemptions, because it is only about "cars and vans".

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by BCnomad

Will my next truck for towing be forced to be a one ton?

That is a problem in regulating personal-use vehicles. Buyers can just shift to classes of vehicles which are less restricted (in fuel consumption, emissions, or anything else) because they are intended for other purposes. One minor effect of fuel economy regulations has been the shift of some non-commercial users to huge vehicles using even more fuel, to get over the gross vehicle weight rating threshold intended to separate passenger and multipurpose vehicles from real working trucks. There are lots of people driving "3/4 ton" and "1 ton" pickups (GM 2500/3500, Ford F-SuperDuty, Ram 2500/3500) just to get diesel engines... and never needing or using the payload or towing capacity.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

They could also approach the problem not by banning gas or diesel vehicles but by raising the CAFE standards to 100 or 120 MPG.

That works for fuel consumption and carbon emissions, but not for oxides of nitrogen. An engine - either gasoline or diesel - designed exclusively for high efficiency will have low carbon emissions (as particulates, and as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide) but will typically have very high NOx emissions due to high combustion temperature.

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I've also read that the railroads and truck lines are also looking at switching to CNG.

Some have, but it is far from a straightforward choice. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is very bulky, and there are few fuel stations (railroads need to build their own, truckers are stuck with what's available)... there are even fewer CNG stations are here now than there were a couple of decades ago. As far as I have seen, the only type of business which extensively uses CNG for on-road vehicles is natural gas distribution utilities... and even they don't use it here.

A variant is liquified natural gas (LNG). This is more compact to carry, but has a major problem in that it needs to be used promptly, or it warms up, evaporates, and vents into the atmosphere. Bison Trucking tried LNG in Alberta several years ago, and gave up soon after because fuel consumption was higher than expected, maintenance was much more expensive than expected, and Cummins discontinued the only available natural gas engine in the required size and power class. If you drive through Edmonton on the Yellowhead Highway, check out the LNG filling station at the Flying J truck stop on the east side - I'll bet you don't see a truck in it, although the diesel pumps beside it are always busy.

Natural gas is easy to burn relatively "cleanly", but is not a magic solution to either carbon or NOx emissions. It can help, and is part of the UK plan.

Originally Posted by steve dunham

When I was growing up , many homes had coal bins and heated with coal including mine. How many homes are heated with coal in 2017 ?

I agree - not many. I was a bit surprised how many coal-burning small businesses made the news when the Alberta carbon tax went into effect, and the cost increase caused significant problems for them. I don't think that this change was driven by regulations or environmental concerns; gas (or even oil) is just cleaner and much more convenient than coal.