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Volkswagen Also Wants To Fit Particulate Filters To Gasoline Engines

Particulate filters used to be just for diesel engines, but Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have plans to change this.
Diesel particulate filter (DPF) installed in Nissan M9R engine 1 photo
Photo: Wikipedia user Hatsukari715
Daimler AG, the company that owns Mercedes-Benz, already announced that it would gradually introduce particulate filters for its gasoline engines. Now, Volkswagen has decided to follow Daimler in this plan, in a bit to meet future emission targets.

The first gasoline engines to be fitted with particulate filters have been made by Mercedes-Benz, and launched in 2014 on the S 500 W222.

They were fitted with filters made by Faurecia, and the automotive supplier announced at the time that it will make the technology available for other automakers, Automotive News notes.

In the case of Volkswagen, the first gasoline engines with particulate filters will be launched next June, beginning with the 1.4-liter TSI engine in the Tiguan, and the 2.0-liter TFSI unit of the Audi A5.

Thanks to the introduction of particulate filters, the new engines will comply with upcoming Euro 6c regulation and reduce emissions of fine particulates by 90%.

While gasoline engines typically have lower particulate emissions when compared to diesel units, recent technologies like direct injection have led to a rise of particulates for spark-ignited units.

The explanation is linked to the way direct injection gasoline engines work - instead of injecting fuel into a port and mixing it with air before it reaches the combustion chamber, gas is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber.

Gasoline-Direct-Injection (GDI, for short) units are more accurate than conventional electronic injection engines, so they spray less gas and get more power and efficiency, but the process leads to a substantially higher output of particulates.

Beginning with September 2017, European regulations will oblige all type-approved gasoline-engined vehicles sold in the EU to reduce particulate emissions by 90% of the previously allowed amount.

The reduction to a tenth of levels earlier accepted goes under the name of Euro 6c, and automakers were aware of this request many years before it was introduced. So there should be no surprises for car makers, but consumers might have to pay more for MY 2017 vehicles, as those particulate filters are not cheap to make, and Diesel Particulate Filters are not compatible with gasoline, so new units had to be developed, thus increasing the cost of this component.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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