Euro 4: Diesel decision time

摘要

In passenger cars and their van derivatives, the diesel engine, in Europe at least, is once more gaining increased acceptance. This comes after a period in the early 1990s when the perceived health hazards of tailpipe emissions brought a slowdown in sales. Increasing awareness of fuel economy by car buyers has reawakened interest in the diesel as an alternative to the gasoline engine. But could the diesel simply be heading for its last blaze of glory? At an Institution of Mechanical Engineers seminar in London entitled The Euro 4 Challenge— Future Technologies and Systems, Peter Pethers, a Ford Motor Company long-term planning manager, expressed the view that the car diesel engine "could be entering its final phase of development, before being regulated out of existence".