diesel nox emissions

[rockmanrock]

Hi all , with the withdrawal of Bikes from the Royal Mail fleet ( a massive mistake IMO) we now have offices full of Diesel vans. These vans need "regening" as the engines are not suitable for short journeys (sic) .this "regen" occurs in my workplace. My question is - our we now susceptible to higher levels of NOX toxins within the work place ? Diesel is a very dirty fuel , and multiple vans revving their engines ,spouting out very bad toxins can't be acceptable can it ?
PS - why Royal Mail doesn't have electric vehicles boggles my mind !

[Seymour Buts]

Why doesn't Royal Mail have electric vehicles? Probably because they cost three times what their combustion counterparts cost. Of all the new vehicles sold last year, what % were totally electric? 0.7%.

[rubberbond]

I should imagine that they are going to be forced to go down the electric route in London, the only problem is of course ,is one of infrastructure , charging points etc. However you know what will happen , you'll jump in your van after your long weekend and the pillock that used it whilst you were away didn't put it on charge , so now the battery is flat and you aren't going anywhere.

[Vwtouran]

This is a big concern for me, there are 11 year old Vauxhall’s with over 100,000 miles in my office & the fumes are terrible when I am on a rural sometimes I can smell fumes coming into the cabin.

[rockmanrock]

Not sure of your point there. Initial costs of Electric vehicles may be high , but the low running costs will cancel out the short term costs of purchasing a fleet of polluting diesel vans.
ps - what about my main point of working in a toxic environment ?

[Seymour Buts]

Not sure of your point there. Initial costs of Electric vehicles may be high , but the low running costs will cancel out the short term costs of purchasing a fleet of polluting diesel vans.
ps - what about my main point of working in a toxic environment ?

How will they cancel out the costs? At three times the cost of the same diesal or petrol unit you'd never recoup the inicial outlay. That doesn't include the cost of installing charging points. They won't last as long either, the batteries on these things (the most expensive part) will last about five years (they estimate).

As for the envirmoment, how do you think truck drivers get on? Mot testers? You're stood in a yard for a minute or two with a few vans running, it's not a toxit enviroment. Anybody who works for biggest campanies with vehicles is in the same boat.

[rockmanrock]

I should imagine that they are going to be forced to go down the electric route in London, the only problem is of course ,is one of infrastructure , charging points etc. However you know what will happen , you'll jump in your van after your long weekend and the pillock that used it whilst you were away didn't put it on charge , so now the battery is flat and you aren't going anywhere.

but this is the same issue when someone doesn't fill up the tank in a diesel van. And when your PDA hasn't been charged. These issues are minor . The bigger picture is the quality of air we breave / inhale in the workspace no ?

[SpacePhoenix]

Electric vehicles aren't viable overall as more power stations would have to be built, renewable energy isn't reliable enough so the new power stations would likely have to be gas or coal

[Chalky13]

Not one van has been “regen” unless done so at our mechanic shop since I’ve been there. The DPF will regenerate automatically whilst being driven too, so if you drive the van for over 5 mins, which I assume everyone does, I really don’t see the issue here in regards breathing toxins in whilst at the depot or on duty.

[Vwtouran]

Not one van has been “regen” unless done so at our mechanic shop since I’ve been there. The DPF will regenerate automatically whilst being driven too, so if you drive the van for over 5 mins, which I assume everyone does, I really don’t see the issue here in regards breathing toxins in whilst at the depot or on duty.

The problem is they keep vans for over 10 years old when they should be getting new more efficient vans.

[reedy]

Doblos need regen the peugeots dont. My Doblo normally needs it once a fortnight

[olilew]

I have to regen my Doblo every 5/6 days! I have to do it back at base upon our return because it is the only time it gets hot enough to do. Whoever bought these for park and loop jobs like ours needs fu**ing if you ask me!

[Chalky13]

Many cars don't get the right sort of use for passive regeneration to work so car manufacturers build in ‘active’ regeneration where the engine control software senses that the filter’s getting blocked and injects extra fuel into the engine to raise the exhaust temperature and trigger regeneration.

Active regeneration will be initiated every 300 miles or so depending on how you use your car and will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

That should be sufficient for any van.

[Tomolo208]

You're mistaken about electric batteries lasting only 5 years.

I do 15 miles a day in my van. Even the oldest, most degraded electric batteries on the Nissan leaf (8 years old) still show 45 miles range when fully charged.

Electric vehicles have come a long way, it's the infrastructure which is the problem.

Each office should install solar panels.

Factor in the fuel costs and the fact that electric vehicles are cheaper to service and repair and there won't be much in it.

100% agree with the OP, on a cold day when all the vans are idling to defrost their vans its like walking into a cloud of smog. Definitely a health risk.

[Spigot bearing]

I completely agree about the fumes, our van never gets hot therefore doesn't regen itself.
The filter clogs regularly and some days when driving the fumes entering the van are unbearable.
Something needs to be done about this before there are loads of health issues.