>Sales of diesel models have declined rapidly in Europe since Volkswagen's emission-cheating scandal and carmakers have been gradually reducing the number of diesel models available in their model lineups.
That's about the time the EU effectively mandated the use of AdBlue for diesels. AdBlue is a massive pain in the ass and I'm glad not to have to deal with it.
AdBlue is water with ammonia, cheaper than fuel if you know where to buy, and you need like 1% as much of it as fuel. Read about wood gas generators if you want to know about a real pain in the ass to run a car.
> AdBlue is a massive pain in the ass and I'm glad not to have to deal with it.
What are you talking about? I have a diesel and you really only need to top off DEF about as often as you change oil. Your service people will top it off for you, and just about any place that sells diesel in America sells DEF too.
How about the fact that DEF freezes at 12 degrees Fahrenheit, so in order to maintain it in liquid form it has to have an always on tank heater in winter. And if your battery happens to die for an unrelated reason in winter it can cause a thousand dollars in damage to the emissions system.
Or how about the fact that the regulations enforcing use of def cause you to be unable to use your vehicle after 500 miles of it detecting any kind of system fault. So imagine you are 10 minutes into a multi-hundred mile drive and an emissions fault pops up. By the time you get home you have about 120 miles of driving before you will not be able to start your vehicle. Now, you call the 2 dealers within 100 miles and due to a thing called the pandemic the soonest you can get a service appointment is over a month out.
AdBlue is enough of a pain in the ass that it is the reason I had to buy a second car. How's that for saving the environment.
Sure but what about all the people dying premature deaths due to respiratory and heart diseases with clear, well understood, and well established links to diesel particulate pollution?
In what way is it a "massive pain the ass"? I buy 5 or litres from my local supermarket or petrol station once or twice a year, undo cap ad poor it in. It;s a lot less annoying than having to fill the washer bottle
Have you tried cleaning up an AdBlue spill that's had time to dry? I apprenticed at an auto shop before I switched to metalworking and I had to deal with a number of AdBlue messes. Newer cars make it easier to refill, but the location of the AdBlue cap in some older models makes you rummage around the luggage compartment.
God forbid you have a sensor problem with the SCR system since your modern diesel is programmed to be crippled if it reads there's no AdBlue in the tank. We had a car come in once (a Citroen or Renault I believe, I remember it was some sort of Frenchie) that needed its rear left fender to be removed to replace the damn thing and I'm 100% sure devils designed the way everything attached together.
Well, in my situation my truck complained about a problem with the DEF fluid. The truck then proceeded to reduce my maximum speed in increments until thought the fluid was good. It turned out to be a faulty sensor.
Not to mention all the restrictions on diesel cars driving through city centres. People used to choose diesel because it was cheaper, so this disproportionately affected poor people - EU's war on personal transportation continues.
Very ineffective war unfortunately, as here in Germany they still seem to invest more in road building than in bike and rail extension (e.g. the A100 extension in Berlin - building a highway through the city as if it’s 1970). I wish we could be more like our neighbours in the Netherlands in this (and other) respects!
That's about the time the EU effectively mandated the use of AdBlue for diesels. AdBlue is a massive pain in the ass and I'm glad not to have to deal with it.