Originally Posted by TiredTrucker
As opposed to particulate filters, I would have thought the push would be for SCR / Urea units that would break down NOx. It isn't like particulates are the big problem with gas as compared to diesels, but NOx is a problem across the spectrum.. gas and diesel. And NOx is what does the smog thing. I am somewhat surprised there has not been a move to put SCR systems on gasoline vehicles.
A couple years ago I read that there were some car companies in europe testing Urea and particulate filters on gdi cars.
I am all for reducing smog, however I think we are spinning our wheels by continuing to come out with stricter emissions requirements. Obviously car companies will actually do this on their own and at their own pace in order to virtue signal to those who care about that stuff that they are better than the other guys. All too often the newer requirements end up adding a bunch of cost to vehicles in the up front cost, the cost of ownership by the way of sensors and cats, precats, egr, particulate filters, selective cats, combo cats, and making is very difficult for the mechanically inclined to figure out how to fix their own vehicle because of the amount of specialized equipment and training it would take for them to know how. Also these emissions come at the cost of fuel economy, oil life, engine life, and ultimately vehicle life.
My wife has a very liberal cousin who lives in a very liberal city with vehicle inspection/emissions testing. She thinks everywhere should have emissions testing. She buys used cars and time after time when they fail emissions she trades them in because it would cost too much to fix. The car basically is not worth the repair. It of course gets auctioned off and ends up somewhere without inspection. If everywhere had emissions inspections her car would drop down to being worth nothing as soon as the check engine lights come on.
I am not in favor of pouring our used oil in the nearest stream, but I really think we have hit the point of diminishing returns. Our focus of "good doing" could be spent somewhere else where it would matter. Reducing the reliability of vehicles is a net negative for the environment anyways. The United States operates so cleanly compared to other countries that we could be hit with an EMP and the carbon reduction would hardly be noticeable, which means it is not us that need to do better. We are only disadvantaging ourselves by continuing to make the rules harder on ourselves.