Volkswagen’s 1.5-litre diesel engine will be discontinued due to the BS6 emission norms that come into effect by 1st April 2020.
The BS6 emission norms coming into effect by 1st April 2020 will see a host of car manufacturers discontinuing their small diesel engines. Volkswagen Group’s 1.5-litre diesel is the latest victim of the stringent BS6 emission norms. It has been learnt that this 1.5 diesel engine will not be upgraded to BS6 standards and hence production of the same will be stopped.
Globally, Volkswagen has also shelved the plans of developing a new 1.4-litre 3-cylinder diesel engine. Meanwhile, car manufacturers like Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra and Tata are looking at low-cost options to develop small capacity BS6-compliant diesel engines.
BS6 diesel engines require a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), a device designed to remove diesel particulate matter from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine, but there are various low-cost options for exhaust after treatment to lower nitrogen oxide emissions to the new levels.
However, it is possible for the 1.5-litre diesel engine to meet the BS6 emission norms by using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) which sharply reduces nitrogen oxide levels but SCR is a more complicated process where urea needs to be injected into the exhaust to convert harmful nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen and oxygen. Also, the complication of fitting a urea tank is almost impossible on cars built on older (PQ25) platforms.
Hence, starting 2020, the Volkswagen Polo, Ameo, Vento and Skoda Rapid will run only on petrol and some other form of hybrid power. The future compact cars from Volkswagen and Skoda will also not have a diesel option. Volkswagen will only be left with its 2.0-litre diesel engine (EA288) beyond 2020. Volkswagen has plans to localise the EA288 engine to bring down the costs, but that too has been put on hold.
Volkswagen 1.5-Litre Diesel Engine
– Volkswagen’s 1.5-Litre TDI engine will be discontinued by 2020
– The company has also shelved plans to develop a new 1.4-litre 3-cylinder diesel engine
– Volkswagen is likely to expand and upgrade its petrol engine offerings for the Indian market
Source – AutocarIndia.com
