It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Volkswagen committed to diesel despite global electrification plans
Despite VW’s Dieselgate scandal in 2015, and most carmakers choosing otherwise, Volkswagen AG has made a bold statement with its commitment to diesel-powered vehicles.
Although diesel-engined cars and SUVs are a dying trend the world over, Volkswagen has demonstrated its commitment to diesel power by developing engines that can use adapted diesel fuels, claimed to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 95 percent over conventional diesels.
In fact, all VW models with the four-cylinder TDI powertrains delivered in Europe since June this year can be used with paraffinic diesel, a newly developed fuel containing bio-components.
VW to continue developing electric and combustion powertrains
VW diesel engines can run on paraffinic fuel to reduce emissions by up to 95 percent
Paraffinic diesel is produced from biological residual and waste material
Volkswagen's global diesel strategy
While Volkswagen has focused its efforts on ramping up its electric vehicle line-up, the firm’s commitment to diesel shows that it is receptive towards other ways of reducing its carbon footprint, in its bid to decrease carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2050.
It is a different approach compared to its competitors – who have made bold statements about going fully electric in the next 10 years. By comparison, Volkswagen has said it plans to increase the share of all-electric cars sold in Europe to over 70 percent by 2030.
Meanwhile, diesel cars' share, in particular, has seen steep decline – a trend that started with VW's Dieselgate scandal in 2015. In India, the share of diesel cars fell from 40 percent in FY2017 to just 19 percent by the first half of FY2021. In markets such as the UK, where diesel once accounted for roughly half of new car sales, it now makes up only 5 percent.
“Alongside [the] accelerated ramp-up efforts in the area of electric mobility, Volkswagen is further developing the existing range with combustion engines," a VW spokesman told our sister publication, Autocar UK. “In this way, the company is responding to different customer needs, while at the same time, taking into account the internationally varying drive system preferences and the respective general conditions.”
Scope of paraffinic diesel and other e-fuels
The firm added that paraffinic diesel fuel could be attractive to fleet customers, who run a mix of electric and conventionally powered vehicles. It anticipates that the fuel's market share in the road transport sector could increase to 20-30 percent in Europe, within 10 years.
Paraffinic fuels are produced from biological residual and waste materials such as hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO). These are then converted into hydrocarbons and can be added to diesel in any quantity. V-Power Diesel and HVO are currently available in the UK.
Volkswagen added that other e-fuels such as Power-to-Liquid (PtL) will be offered in future, which are produced from regenerative sources using CO2 and electricity. In this process, excess green energy could be used in their production.
Volkswagen's petrol and diesel fuel boss Thomas Garbe said: “Through the use of environmentally friendly fuels in the approved Volkswagen models, we are making it possible for customers throughout Europe to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions as soon as the fuel is locally available.”
Volkswagen’s diesel strategy in India
Diesels used to be a big part of the Volkswagen Group’s model line-up here as well. Starting with the Polo's 1.2-litre TDI engine and going all the way to the higher-end 4.2-litre TDI in Audi models like the Q7andA8.
Volkswagen, however, decided to pull the plug on diesel engines in India as we transitioned into the stringent BS6 emission norms last April. The cost of after-treatment systems on diesels to clear the BS6 norms would have invariably driven up the prices, making little sense in small cars. And while Volkswagen had previously hinted on the return of diesel engines for larger models in the India 2.0 strategy, there’s currently no news of diesel being brought back. Thus, unlike the firm’s global portfolio, the VW Group models here will continue to be petrol-only for now.
Volkswagen diesel engines now approved for use with paraffinic fuels; up to 95% savings in CO2 emissions
Volkswagen hasn’t completely foregone diesel, it has shown, with its announcement that its latest generation of four-cylinder diesel engines which it has approved for use with paraffinic fuels. These are newly developed diesel fuels which contain bio components that enable significant savings in CO2 emissions, between 70% and 95% compared with conventional diesel, it said.
All Volkswagen models with four-cylinder diesel engines delivered from the end of June this year received approval for operation with paraffinic diesel fuels in compliance with the European standard EN 15940, said the automaker.
“Through the use of environmentally friendly fuels in the approved Volkswagen models, we are making it possible for customers throughout Europe to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions as soon as the fuel is locally available,” said Volkswagen head of petrol and diesel fuels Thomas Garbe. The use of these paraffinic diesel fuels is a sensible option, particularly for companies with a mixed fleet also comprised of electrified vehicles, Garbe added.
Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI engine
There are several types of paraffinic diesel fuels; one such type is produced from biological residual and waste materials such as HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), which is converted into hydrocarbons through reacting with hydrogen, and can be added to diesel in any quantity, or used entirely on their own as a fuel, said Volkswagen.
Vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil can also be used in the production of HVO, though its maximum environmental benefit can only be obtained through the use of biofuel residual and waste materials such as used cooking oil, sawdust and others. Biofuels using HVO are already on the market, says Volkswagen, and their share in the energy market could increase to 20 to 30% for road transport in Europe within the next 10 years, it said.
In the future, there will also be e-fuels, otherwise known as power-to-liquid (PtL), and will be produced from regenerative sources with the use of CO2 and electricity. Also known by X-to-liquid (XtL), GtL and PtL acronyms, these begin with the initial production of a synthesis gas from different raw materials, which is then converted to standard-compliant diesel through the Fischer-Tropsch process. Excess green energy can be used in this production process, says Volkswagen.
The latest diesel engine development is Volkswagen’s additional effort towards reducing CO2 emissions for becoming climate-neutral by 2050, in addition to the industry-wide push for electrification. The German manufacturer’s goal for 2030 is to reduce per-vehicle emissions in Europe by 40% compared to its figure in 2018.
Volkswagen has delivered not one but two good news stories this week. The first aims to alleviate climate change, by introducing diesel engines that can run on green fuels; the second will help Golf drivers change their own climate more easily, with a major update to the infotainment system.
Volkswagen has been rolling out its fleet of new battery-electric vehicles in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint by 40 per cent in Europe by 2030. But to minimise the carbon legacy of the diesel cars it will deliver between now and then, it has made all its four-cylinder TDI engines able to run on paraffinic fuels. This modification applies to vehicles delivered from the end of June this year.
Prof. Thomas Garbe, Volkswagen's Head of Petrol and Diesel Fuels said: "Through the use of environmentally friendly fuels in the approved Volkswagen models, we are making it possible for customers throughout Europe to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions as soon as the fuel is locally available. For example, the use of paraffinic fuels is a sensible additional option particularly for companies with a mixed fleet made up of models with electric and conventional drives."
Paraffinic fuels that meet European standard EN 15940 aren't blended with any regular diesel. They are made with the Fischer Tropsch process from natural gas (GTL), biomass (BTL) or through the hydrotreatment process of vegetable oils or animal fats (HVO). They have next to no sulphur and aromatics, and can lower CO2 emissions by up to 95 per cent compared with conventional diesel.
True enough, EN 15940-compliant fuels aren't actually widely available at the moment, but they are out there and include C.A.R.E diesel, NEXTBTL and HVO. It's more common to see a mix of paraffinic and regular diesel, such as Diesel R33, V-Power Diesel, OMV MaxMotion and Aral Ultimate Diesel. Volkswagen has said these mixed fuels can be used in all its diesel engines, even the older ones.
The second piece of good news is that help is finally coming for those experiencing problems with the latest Volkswagen infotainment system. You almost certainly will be, because the MIB3 system is, relatively speaking, a shocker. Company insiders we've talked to have said many of its problems relate to the poor integration between its outside software developers and the inhouse team at Volkswagen. The issues have been manifest and delayed the launch of the ID.3; even now the software is unresponsiveness and full of bugs.
The latest Golf is the first to come with the infotainment upgrade, which is both hardware and software. There is a more powerful System on Chip (SoC) central processor that trebles the graphics performance and adds 25 per cent more computing capacity. The software improvements are said to make the infotainment more stable and useable when using the touchscreen, although the gesture control and natural voice control have been enhanced, too. You can use the former from farther away now, and the voice control has a new digital microphone, which it's claimed can distinguish between the driver and passenger - so when asked to alter the interior temperature, it knows which side to adjust. Volkswagen also says its comprehension rate is up to 95 per cent.
Although the changes are currently for the Golf, it seems logical that they will be extended to the ID.3 and ID.4. And Volkswagen has said it plans to roll out the new software to existing Golf models in the coming months.
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