1) What NOx was pre-CR TDIs required to meet? I'm pretty sure my 1998 didn't have to meet an NOx criteria even though it had an EGR.
2) What NOx is the CR required to meet? I'll assume we currently emit "up to 40X" that.
I'll go through the standards here, although I don't have full numbers for diesels, and I'm focusing on federal standards more than California, although some California data will be used as well. I'm going to ignore light duty trucks, as the first TDIs certified as such were after Tier 2 unified trucks and cars.
In 1975, the first NOx standards for cars and light duty trucks were instituted as part of the Clean Air Act, at 3.1 grams per mile.[1]
In 1977-1979, the NOx standard for cars is lowered to 2.0 g/mi in an amendment to the Clean Air Act.[1] I believe the first VW diesels had to meet this, and a 1980 Rabbit diesel (the oldest I can find in the EPA's datafiles) was at 1.4 g/mi for federal emissions.[2]
In 1981, the NOx standard for cars is further lowered to 1.0 g/mi.[1] All of these above figures are at 5 years, 50,000 miles as I understand.[3]
In 1994, Tier 1 emissions regulations are enacted. Diesel vehicles are allowed 1.0 g/mi at 5 years, 50,000 miles (gassers get hit a lot harder, at 0.4 g/mi), and 1.25 g/mi at 10 years, 100,000 miles full useful life (0.6 g/mi for gassers).[3] This is what the 1Z, AHU, and ALH had to meet.
In 2004, Tier 2 emissions regulations began phase-in. Tier 2 Bin 10 replaces the Tier 1 gasser regulations (with the change that full useful life is now 120,000 miles), and this is the highest legal class for a passenger car. California began phasing in LEV II at the same time, which I'll get to (it's effectively Tier 2 Bin 5).[4] As it's the gasser regulations, 0.4 g/mi at 50,000 miles, 0.6 g/mi at 120,000 miles.[5] Most of the PDs (BEW, BHW, BKW, and BRM) had to meet this. The LEV II phase-in schedule allowed the 2006 Touareg with the BWF engine, certified in Tier 2 Bin 10, to be counted as a California LEV I ULEV vehicle, though, as it was a "MDV3" due to its curb weight under LEV I regulations.[6] (It's worth noting that the BWF added DPFs, too.)
In 2007, Tier 2 Bins 9 and 10 were deleted for passenger cars, Tier 2 Bin 8 was the highest allowed standard. This allows 0.14 g/mi NOx at 50,000 miles, and 0.2 g/mi at 120,000 miles[5], and Volkswagen didn't go for it. Bin 10 wasn't deleted for trucks until 2009, so the 2007[7] and 2008[8] Touareg V10 TDIs remained certified in that bin.
Now, the common rails aimed for Tier 2 Bin 5, which was phased in for passenger cars in California as LEV II. This allows 0.05 g/mi NOx at 50,000 miles, 0.07 g/mi NOx at 120,000 miles. (It's also worth noting that Tier 2 is when Federal and California emissions began to be harmonized.)[4][5]
The EA288 common rails, for what it's worth, are certified to a stricter standard (they don't have to be, phase-in is just beginning for 2015, as I understand) - Tier 3 Bin 125, which allows 0.125 g/mi of NMOG plus NOx at 150,000 miles.[9][10] This is fully harmonized with California LEV III ULEV125.[11] Note that NMOG and NOx are now combined. Tier 3 Bin 125/LEV III ULEV125's limits, however, are in between Tier 2 Bin 5 (0.160 g/mi combined) and Tier 2 Bin 4 (0.110 g/mi combined).[5]
3) What NOx is a full-sized pickup with a GVWR of >8500 lbs required to meet?
There's several answers to that. Because it's not considered a "medium-duty passenger vehicle" (these are 2500-class SUVs and vans, typically), it falls under the heavy-duty regulations, in which a chassis or an engine can be certified.[12] Everyone goes for certifying the chassis in that class, though. Current EPA standards are 0.2 g/mi if it's 8,500-10,000 pounds (read: 3/4 ton), 0.4 g/mi if it's 10,000-14,000 pounds GVWR (read: 1 ton) for spark ignition[13], and I'm finding claims that if a diesel manufacturer chooses to chassis-certify, they must follow spark ignition NOx standards.
4) What NOx are motorcycles required to meet?
HC and NOx are combined in these regulations. There's four classes of motorcycle - class I-A (under 50 cc), class I-B (50-169 cc), class II (170-279 cc), and class III (280+ cc).
Class I-A, I-B, and II are allowed 1.0 g/km (1.61 g/mi) HC, and an optional standard of 1.4 g/km (2.25 g/mi) HC+NOx, if a manufacturer wants to average emissions or transfer credits.
Class III is allowed 0.8 g/km (1.29 g/mi) HC+NOx.[14]
To put that into context, and combine some figures for cars... Tier 0 (1981) standards allowed 0.41 g/mi HC, 1.0 g/mi NOx, for 1.41 g/mi HC+NOx.[3] Tier 1 diesel (1994) allowed 1.41 g/mi at 5 yrs/50k mi, or 1.61 g/mi HC+NOx at 10 yrs/100k mi.[3] It gets more confusing with Tier 2, as only non-methane organic gases/hydrocarbons and formaldehyde are regulated, but I'll add them and NOx together. Tier 2 Bin 10 allows 0.54 g/mi at 50k mi, 0.774 g/mi at 120k mi. Tier 2 Bin 5 allows 0.14 g/mi at 50k mi, 0.178 g/mi at 120k mi.[5] Tier 3 Bin 125 allows 0.129 g/mi at 150k mi.[10]
The pages I saw seemed to indicate that a more powerful engine was allowed to emit more NOx, something like grams per BHP. But I couldn't really translate that in "grams per mile" or some other criteria that seemed like it could tie to MPGs.
BTW, this article for for my website. So you're not contributing to a paper that's making me money. The article will be more owner-related than scientific. I'd like good numbers, but what I REALLY want is to not be completely off-base.
I may not use the answers to all of my questions, but perhaps a paraphrase of sorts.
The slant of my article, while it WILL express disappointment with VW, is that my CR is way cleaner than my AHU. I think it's cleaner than the ALH. I'm a bit hazy on whether it's cleaner than a PD, 3/4 ton truck or motorcycle. I also think it's cleaner than most aircraft. I will close with some hope that VW will be able to make things right. I have no current plan to leave the VW family.
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Scott
Now, in that context... real-world, on NOx emissions, a CR is dirtier than the claimed figures for a 1980 Rabbit diesel. It's dirtier than the allowed figures for a 1-ton pickup. Depending on the HC emissions of the motorcycle (for instance, a motorcycle manufacturer may elect to go very light on the HC emissions, but spew NOx) and which CR you have, it's worse than a motorcycle... but motorcycles are
dirty.
[1]
The History of Reducing Tailpipe Emissions
[2]
1980 Light Duty Vehicle Certified Test Report Files
[3]
Light-Duty Vehicle and Light-Duty Truck -- Tier 0, Tier 1, National Low Emission Vehicle (NLEV), and Clean Fuel Vehicle (CFV) Exhaust Emission Standards
[4]
Low Emission Vehicle II (LEV II) Standards
[5]
Light-Duty Vehicle, Light-Duty Truck, and Medium-Duty Passenger Vehicle -- Tier 2 Exhaust Emission Standards
[6]
CARB Executive Order certifying the 2006 Touareg V10 TDI
[7]
2007 Light Duty Vehicle Certified Vehicle Test Result Report Data
[8]
2008 Light Duty Vehicle Certified Vehicle Test Result Report Data
[9]
2015 Light Duty Vehicle Certified Vehicle Test Result Report Data
[10]
Cars and Light-Duty Trucks - Tier 3
[11]
Low Emission Vehicle III (LEV III) Standards
[12]
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Requirements, Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans, slide 10
[13]
Heavy-Duty Highway Spark-Ignition Engines -- Exhaust Emission Standards
[14]
Highway Motorcycles -- Exhaust Emission Standards
