A recent study on emissions of passenger vehicles in India has revealed certain startling facts about diesel powered vehicles. In actual fact, they do not meet the standards in real world driving conditions even though they comply with standards in labs and sport elevated lab certifications. The study goes on to reveal that a diesel SUV could be emitting 25-65 times more NOx as compared to a small petrol engined vehicle.
International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), an Indian vehicle testing agency and International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) submitted a report which revealed the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal in the US and it is this same agency that tested the diesel 2015 Hyundai i20 BS-IV compliant vehicle and the diesel Mahindra XUV500.
The report submitted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) also drew attention to the lab and on-road emission test on passenger cars in India which shows that the NOx emissions from a Hyundai i20 diesel car is 3-6 times the BS-IV standard and 9-12 times above emissions from its petrol engine counterpart. In fact, the petrol engine vehicle is itself emitting 0.5-0.7 times above the permitted limits.
Tests conducted on the Mahindra XUV500 revealed 4-6 times higher emissions and the Mahindra XUV500 diesel emissions were 25-65 times higher than the Hyundai i20 petrol. The study concluded that where NOx emissions are concerned 1 XUV500 diesel SUV is equal to 25-65 small petrol cars. The study also found that despite being BS-IV compliant, diesel engine vehicles emit at least 1000 times more ultrafine particles as compared to a BS-VI vehicle.
Delhi. Image – PTIIt is high time that the Government of India created organizations which will check the emission, mileage, etc claims of the product, even after the product is launch.
