Rising Fuel Prices

[freebeard]

Have you forgotten that redpoint and I live in the USA?

State of Oregon specifically. Have you forgotten that cRiPpLe_rOoStEr said "which are available in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Latin America"? Legal proscriptions obviate the First Amendment?

I didn't know about such things, being more focussed on Bruen and the Auto Key Card story. Does a picture become illegal when it's etched into steel?

[Piotrsko]

No unless it is a picture of Mohammed in a very conservative muslim country with a religious hierarchy...

If you're deleting emission equipment, you probably not going to have it dealer serviced.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

All emissions deletes I am aware of occur because of vehicle totalling failure of the emissions equipment.

Thankfully my 82 diesel suburban and 2001 TDI didn’t have expensive emissions equipment.

AKA - the car requires maintenance that the owner is too cheap to perform. 99% of diesel emission failures are one of 4 things:

1. A sensor or wiring is bad
2. The DEF has gone bad - it has about a 1 year shelf life - keep away from heat and light
3. The EGR plugged up and needs to be removed and cleaned
4. The DPF plugged up and needs to be cleaned or replaced.

The 4th one is the big one as DPFs don't last forever and anyone owning a diesel vehicle should expect to replace the DPF between 100K and 150K miles. It is part of the cost of owning a diesel. In the long run it isn't that expensive - about 2.5 cents per mile.

How fast it clogs up is HIGHLY dependent on driving routes and style. Idling is the death of DPFs - diesels should be turned off at every stop. I still see people leaving diesels idling outside of stores like in the old days of indirect ignition and that is just killing the DPF. Stop and go driving plugs up a DPF far faster than highway driving.

The same things can go bad on a gasoline vehicle with the exception of DEF. The difference is that federal regulations require manufacturers to put a diesel into limp mode if the emission system isn't working. With a gas vehicle it just throws some codes and turns on the check engine light.


Back to prices:

Gasoline is now $4.79 a gallon
Diesel is $6.29 a gallon

At 15 mpg my ambulance costs $0.42 a mile for diesel + $0.01 for DEF + $0.02 for future DPF replacement. So $0.45 per mile.

At current prices - 11 mpg on gasoline would be cheaper than running a diesel. I wonder what that new 6.6L gas engine does for fuel economy. Too made nobody makes a factor hybrid MD truck - yet.

[redpoint5]

Current fuel prices aren't normal, so they shouldn't factor into the long-term cost factor.

If DPF is 2.5 cents per mile, that's the cost for electricity in an EV car (an EV truck might be 5 cents). That's not an insignificant cost.

All of these additional costs are reasons to eliminate the emission stuff on a diesel rather than to continually maintain it.

As I said, probably a moot point for me as I have no intention to purchase another ICE truck. I've got no use case for driving one more than locally. Maybe Sunriver would be the furthest I'd go, and that's 150 miles. Since trucks are significantly more maintenance, I have every motivation to own one that has as little maintenance as necessary.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

I'm aware that SCR deletes exist as the company I work for has legal ones that they sell to dealers outside of the USA to legally deregulate diesel vehicles that have been exported from the USA to countries with lower emission standards. Those aren't for sale inside the USA.

I remember the 2nd-gen Mercedes-Benz ML-series, imported from the USA, had a "low-quality fuel" tune in Brazil, but DEF wasn't even mentioned as of 2008. It didn't have a particle filter, and the fuel filters had a higher-density media. Now such option would be pointless, as not even the S-500 Diesel is so easy to find in Porto Alegre anymore. There are rumors that Petrobras might import Russian Diesel fuel to get the prices down, but I wouldn't be surprised if that would be mostly S-500 instead of the S-10 Diesel fuel, catering mostly to the commercial trucks and intercity coaches, considering that many are fitted only with SCR and would still tollerate a higher sulphur content that an engine also fitted with EGR may not handle so well

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I remember the 2nd-gen Mercedes-Benz ML-series, imported from the USA, had a "low-quality fuel" tune in Brazil, but DEF wasn't even mentioned as of 2008. It didn't have a particle filter, and the fuel filters had a higher-density media. Now such option would be pointless, as not even the S-500 Diesel is so easy to find in Porto Alegre anymore. There are rumors that Petrobras might import Russian Diesel fuel to get the prices down, but I wouldn't be surprised if that would be mostly S-500 instead of the S-10 Diesel fuel, catering mostly to the commercial trucks and intercity coaches, considering that many are fitted only with SCR and would still tollerate a higher sulphur content that an engine also fitted with EGR may not handle so well

500 PPM sulfur diesel won't effect EGR but it will poison the NOx catalyst and plug up a DPF. Even 50 ppm diesel will kill the emission systems on a Euro V or EPA 2008 truck.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Current fuel prices aren't normal, so they shouldn't factor into the long-term cost factor.

Inflation is going to be "abnormal" for years to come because there aren't going to be enough foreign buyers of US assets to prop up the dollar after the Fed stops tightening.

Unless some kind of miracle happens and Congress decides to cut the budget (good joke right?).

Expect fuel prices to trend up after the recession bottom.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Inflation is going to be "abnormal" for years to come because there aren't going to be enough foreign buyers of US assets to prop up the dollar after the Fed stops tightening.

Unless some kind of miracle happens and Congress decides to cut the budget (good joke right?).

Expect fuel prices to trend up after the recession bottom.

You're preaching to the choir, yet here we are, many years of mostly stable prices. That can always change, and recently has, but predictions are always difficult, especially about the future.

I'm expecting a recession, which I would also imagine would tend to curb abnormal inflation.

Something approximating equilibrium is the natural state of the world in which we live. Generally I expect to exist somewhere within the normal variance of that equilibrium.

Lies are always repaid with interest, but I'm hoping ours was benign enough that we can pay and continue on. Time will tell.

[freebeard]

serialk11r -- Inflation is purely the result of Reserve Banking. It's like a patient on a gurney with a veinal tap and they open and close the tap with one eye on the vital signs.

redpoint5 -- Karma is like a wheel but it's blind. Your misfortune may befall someone else.

edit: I paused the news. Apparently, Resident Biden today announced billions to fight Climate Change:

https://news.yahoo.com › biden-battles-climate-change-215140734.html
Biden battles climate change
TodayWhat Biden's plan includes: Fighting the heat: $2.3 billion for a program that helps communities deal with heat waves, floods, wildfires and other extreme weather events, prioritizing historically disadvantaged communities. Energy bills: Broadens the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program to give states more options on spending federal funds ...

Some may see Congressional Pork, but I see ruggedizing of the infrastructure. I just hope it includes tsunamii and cold and atmospheric stripping off.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

redpoint5 -- Karma is like a wheel but it's blind. Your misfortune may befall someone else.

By some measures, absolutely. All debts will be repaid though. We don't see eye to eye on this, but as far as I can figure, regardless of simulation, or big bang, or God's uttering the bang... all outcomes end justly on the infinite timescale. The terrifying part is discerning what part of self is worthy of future and beyond. That's the beginning, and then nurturing that part is the struggle. Most (none?) don't make it to the beginning.

That's the one and only aspect I admire about Elon; that he understands his infinitely small yet infinitely vital role to participate in imagining the future. He does this clumsily, as we all do. He also does this more effectively than most.

He will be as forgotten as me at some point. That isn't an excuse not to participate, but perspective from which we stand.