there doesnt seem to be many about?..............with all the problems with DPF s on diesels and all the other modifications to meet strict EU regulations on emissions (esp if you only do 3000 miles a year like me!).
would you buy a petrol van?
Would I buy a Petrol van? Not at the moment as its resale value is worth next to nothing when compared to the equivalent diesel powered vehicle. In my days with Citroen, Citroen Relay vans were available in a 104hp 2.2 hdi diesel engine or a 110hp petrol engine. The petrol engine was no match for the diesel.
Most buyers of Petrol vans bought them to convert to LPG.
Does it worry me that the emissions from my diesel engined van can be causing someone's health to fail? Yes, very much so.
I believe that taxation is going to effect diesel vehicles and impact on sales in the future. This has been brought on by the change of heart with regard to CO2 and NOx.
Wikipedia under diesel exhausts is worth a read.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaustTotal nitrogen oxides from petrol cars have decreased by around 96% through adoption of exhaust catalytic converters as of 2012, while diesel cars still produce nitrogen oxides at a similar level to those bought a decade and a half ago under real world tests; hence, diesel cars emit around 20 times more nitrogen oxides than petrol cars. Modern on-road diesel engines typically use selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) systems to meet emissions laws, as other methods such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cannot adequately reduce NOx to meet the newer standards applicable in many jurisdictions.[If this is genuine and not taxation scaremainering, then we have a issue with diesel engines.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/vans/news-and-advice/2014/august/petrol-versus-diesel/ I think the new generation of turbo 1.0 petrol engines will pave the way for petrol engine acceptance into the future.
However the big question is what about the exhaust issue with Petrol engines. They need to overfuel a cold petrol engine to heat the catalytic convertor up quickly before it starts to work effectively. Most petrol engines fail exhaust emission tests when idling in traffic as the catalytic convertor looses it heat. Overfueling is pollution.
A petrol engine uses more fuel than a diesel engine, so from a fuel taxation point of view the government would want to promote the use of petrol over diesel.
Now what is the government doing with regard to diesel electric trains?
How's Boris Johnson taxing this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv_cGG56QA4In the early days, the Ford Transit was supplied in either a 1.6 or 2.O liter overhead cam petrol engine. In South Africa they were known as Pinto engines. But petrol made way for diesels as they were far better power plants. There is always a cost option that could send us back to a lower performing petrol engine.
Here's new 'cool' if you own a diesel truck in America. Its called rolling coal. My van is clean burning when compared to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZe7EPMTwSA