Cummins fined $1.675 Billion for gaming their diesel emissions.

[5030]

Don't know actually. I have a turbo charged John Deere 4 cylinder diesel in my Generac 27KW standby and it's over 15 years old now with no issues other than routine maintenance. Far as I'm concerned, they are all good so long as you maintain them.

 

[ultrarunner]

What are they proposing to replace the Cummins backup gensets? Aren't they still the gold standard for reliable backup genset power?

Yes but Air Management Districts in California are targeting older for retirement based on tier emissions level...

 

[5030]

Isn't Kalifornia a foreign country today?

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I always found it funny our cummins generators used in the usaf had NO emissions equipment..... and some of these were brand new 2011-2016

 

[Sawyer Rob]

They will only disappear in America like VW diesels did. Buy one now before they're gone

I did, the problem is it came with a Dodge wrapped around it! SR

 

[CliffordK]

They will only disappear in America like VW diesels did. Buy one now before they're gone

I doubt they'll be vanishing. The RAM Cummins pickups are very popular, and generally have a good reputation, especially the engines. If RAM chooses to stop putting diesel engines in their 2500/3500 series pickups, I think the market share for the 2500/3500 line will collapse very quickly, and the 1500 line will follow just behind them. Nor do I expect RAM will shift to Ford, GM, Detroit, or International engines. Probably not FIAT engines either. They would take a beating for doing it. Would CAT or John Deere choose to start producing small pickup engines?

We could see some changes in the Cummins offerings. The 5.0L Cummins puttered out. The 5.9 is from yesteryear. And now the 6.7 might not be quite what they want. Will we see another Cummins V8?

The question that is hard to predict is what will happen with the electric vehicles. RAM EVs are coming. So far none of the manufactures have entered the heavy duty EV pickup market, although there are a few local delivery trucks available, and now a couple of long haul trucks. Chevy has announced a Silverado EV heavy duty towing WT model, but it is still vaporware. I'd anticipate that we'll see more and more EVs replacing the 150/1500 lines of pickups while the diesels will remain king of the 2500/3500/4500 series vehicles for at least another 2 decades. Greener Diesel?

 

[CliffordK]

I always found it funny our cummins generators used in the usaf had NO emissions equipment..... and some of these were brand new 2011-2016

I doubt the US military really cares much about emissions. Do the Abrams Tanks pass EPA guidelines? When will we see the 20 MPG Abrams?

I do find it funny looking at the Soviet/Russian tanks followed around by a plume of black smoke. Look for the black smoke, and you'll find the tank!!!

How much does the military use portable generators? Perhaps more than one might expect. However, I'd imagine that the impact of low use backup generators on SMOG is very minimal. Especially if they run on propane and natural gas. Consider an engine that runs for a few hours a year on very clean fuel. A few hours a decade?

I think that is something that also gets missed with consideration of the impact of small tractors to air pollution and the climate. My small tractor does very little to the overall planet pollution. It often takes me months to burn 5 gallons of diesel. I would, however, prefer not get dirty exhaust blown in my own face.

 

[ultrarunner]

I always found it funny our cummins generators used in the usaf had NO emissions equipment..... and some of these were brand new 2011-2016

Same with some law enforcement and military when it comes to emissions.

The claim it’s deleted to improve reliability.

 

[CliffordK]

Same with some law enforcement and military when it comes to emissions.

The claim it’s deleted to improve reliability.

The US Military used to run multifuel engines. Apparently designed to run on diesel, but they could run on a variety of fuels and grades of fuels, sometimes benefiting from mixing fuels. Apparently the military has now gone to mostly commercial diesel engines.

Nonetheless, I can imagine arguments against the logistics of also supporting DEF/Urea. Perhaps also not requiring ULSD.

Ideally they would design their systems with the DPF/CAT for use in countries where ULSD and DEF is available, and a bypass for use with lower grades of diesel, or a lack of DEF when only the lower grades are available.

 

[Renze]

Political power runs the world

Political power is already hitting a brick wall in Europe. They subsidized solar panels and heat pumps. Works fine as long as the government forces the energy company to take back your excess solar for the same price as they sell a KwH when the sun dont shine. Because the fixed cost of a grid connection is soaring (electricity companies run a business, and have to make ends meet, you know) this rule is being phased out.

Result: Heat pumps no longer break even in Belgium because the breakeven time vs natural gas is 15 years. The Netherlands will follow with the phasing out of this rule in 2025, so our breakeven time will also drop from the current 5 years to 15 years.

Subsidy on electric cars in Germany abruptly stops on January 1st. German car dealerships are angry with the green government because orders are being cancelled and they are stuck with inventories of electric cars that there is no longer a market for. VW cancelled the electric ID4 production because market demand vanished into thin air after the subsidy was cut.

The only thing that makes sense is to convert excess solar into hydrogen through electrolysers and put it into our existing natural gas network.
Solar gets fed into low voltage network locally, though when we buy electricity from another European country, it gets transported through a 10 Kilovolt main network at far greater power density and efficiency than the fine local 230/400v grid.

Its already happening here. Folks that rammed their roofs full of solar hoping to get rich, will get 1/20 of the price for their excess electricity during peak hours, vs what they pay when they need it back. Its quite a turmoil slowly unfolding to the general public.