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Mercedes Engines Allergic to US Gasoline

As one of the strictest countries in the world when it comes to emission standards and fuel economy ratings, the US seems to be on track to becoming, sooner than others, one of the cleanest places on Earth as far as the emission levels from cars go...

As least, this is the general perception. German auto maker Mercedes, on the other hand, is now saying that the cars that run in the US these days could have been cleaner, had the fuel used in America been the same: clean.

According to wardsauto.com, the newest engines in the Daimler lineup, those that can operate in the so-called lean-burn mode (simply put, less emissions, bigger mileage), are not to be seen very soon on the roads in the US.

The reason behind this, says Mercedes, is that the gasoline in use in the US still has a high concentration of sulfur. According to the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), gasoline may have up to 95 parts per million (ppm) sulfur.

That is a big problem for the new Mercedes engines, which promise previously unheard of emissions and fuel consumption levels, provided you feed them with gasoline that contains under 50 ppm sulfur.

Currently, Mercedes sells this type of engines mostly in Europe, as it faces in regions like Africa and Asia the same sulfur problem as in the US. The North American country is so far the only one considering new regulations when it comes to the sulfur content in gasoline as a means to allow better engines onto the market.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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