Less than a few weeks ago, the Mercedes ML320 with a diesel engine has been temporarily banned from five states: California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. Today, we have learned Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island have joined the other fives, and have temporarily banned their diesel engine. After I have posted my previous article, one of my readers has left an interesting comment, quoting:
There are national standards, and then California has stricter standards, which as the writer noted have been adopted by 4 other states. These engines are not banned per se, but are not allowed to be sold new in these states. Used diesels can be and are imported into these states all the time. The 2007 Mercedes E320 Bluetec did not pass CA emission standards, but only by a fraction of a percent. Once they add the AdBlue mixture (which the US EPA is almost ready to approve) then these diesels will be able to be sold in all 50 states.
As Dan has mentioned, when the new Mercedes Bluetec diesel engine will be rolled out, approximately a year from now, the new engine will meet even California’s strict emissions regulations. According to Autoblog, eventually all the Mercedes Benz SUVs will be offered with the Bluetec diesel option. The move was suppose to have taken place this year, for the 2008 models but it will be probably released next year as 09 model.
Another issue for the german manufacturer will be higher costs associated with this new engine and apparently Mercedes will have to subsidize it in order to keep the prices down and be competitive.
Mercedes’ competitor, BMW, has already announced its plans on bringing their BMW diesel engines into the US sometimes in 2008 and I’m quoting a BMW official
As a means of producing so much power with a minimum of environmental impact and a maximum of fuel efficiency, it is no surprise that BMW will be among the first to introduce 50-state clean diesel technology.
It seems like this is a lesson learned by BMW and they just want to get things straight the first time. Hopefully, their prices will stay competitive and we can all enjoy the diesel power in our engines.
