Why are most new cars blue?

[Mook]

Not the colour, the eco stuff. Mercedes Bluetec, VW Bluemotion, Toyota Hybrid drive (blue logo), Nissan Leaf - blue etc.

Why the hell is it blue? Why not green, given that green is supposed to be the eco-warrior friendly colour?

Answers on a postcard please

[garcon magnifique]

Blue is kewl.

[shao_khan]

Its to do with the Political 'Green' stance - you have a Green party but not a Blue party, and the German manufacturers didnt want to get caught up in the political mire - hence bluetec / bluemotion. Its also about not alienating people by shoving 'green' issues at them.

[eldavo69]

I thought it had something to do with AdBlue

[Cuprabob]

Skoda do use the brand "Greenline" for their eco models.

Blue or Green, you're going to upset someone in the west of Scotland:-)

[cruiser647]

Because they aren't really green are they.

Full of nasty batteries and fossil fuels, that emit NOx (or whatever)

Until hydrogen is used, then they can say 'Greenmotion' and Greentec'

[patently]

Because if they claimed they were green, all sorts of claims for misleading advertising would get fired at them.

[shao_khan]

My Current insignia is an ecoflex - £30 a year tax and fuel economy is 10mpg worse than my last non - eco insignia.

So lets understand this - it emits less CO2s so it more environmentally friendly and attracts less tax, but it consumes 20% more fuel than my non eco version thus consuming more fossil fuels and destroyign the planet in a totally differnt way ..... Hmmm something flawed in this logic somewhere.

[Mook]

You drive an Insignia. That's what's fecked up

[Tipex]

I've said it before, but all the 'eco' crap manufacturers are forced to fit to cars these days is totally counter productive and actually makes cars less economical and less reliable, if they were allowed to get rid of all that and simply concentrate on lean burn technology, and develop their own methods of fuel saving, things would be a lot better.

Things like EGR systems and catalytic convertors prohibit the development of better alternatives.

[robbie_n]

My Current insignia is an ecoflex - £30 a year tax and fuel economy is 10mpg worse than my last non - eco insignia.

So lets understand this - it emits less CO2s so it more environmentally friendly and attracts less tax, but it consumes 20% more fuel than my non eco version thus consuming more fossil fuels and destroyign the planet in a totally differnt way ..... Hmmm something flawed in this logic somewhere.

This is something I can never understand having been pushed down the green route with company cars. A few years back I had a 335i and a colleague had a Lexus rx450h. Both cars averaged around 28mpg with mainly motorway driving yet his car tax was a third cheaper due to low co2 emissions.

Now I am no chemist but if both cars use the same amount of fuel to travel the same distance they require then they both produce the same co2/km, no?????

[patently]

Now I am no chemist but if both cars use the same amount of fuel to travel the same distance they require then they both produce the same co2/km, no?????

Yes, I think so. The carbon comes from the fuel, so surely the CO2 and the fuel used must be in a 1:1 relationship?

However, the official CO2 figure comes from the official test which may or may not match what you actually do.

[Tipex]

I don't think the two necessarily correlate, with EGR systems and catalytic converters trying to reduce C02 from the spent exhaust gasses.

[Milo]

I'm looking forward to getting a twin supercharged 3.0 V6 in 3 weeks. Which gives out 15% less CO2 than my 2.0T 4 cylinder. I bought it for eco reasons because I am always thinking of the environment.

I view all the city cars I see these days as free offset for whatever I want to drive.

[Tipex]

Twin supercharged?

I know how twin turbo's work, but twin superchargers?

[eldavo69]

Two is better than one.

It's like the amps that go up to 11 in Spinal Tap because 11 is one higher than 10

[patently]

I don't think the two necessarily correlate, with EGR systems and catalytic converters trying to reduce C02 from the spent exhaust gasses.

EGR re-circulates the gases, but they have to come out at some point, surely, else the engine will inflate like a balloon? Don't catalysts take out noxious gases by ensuring they are fully oxidised, such as converting CO to CO2?

So if catalysts reduce CO2 from the exhaust, where is it going and what is it converted to? :confused:

[Tipex]

EGR re-circulates the gases, but they have to come out at some point, surely, else the engine will inflate like a balloon? Don't catalysts take out noxious gases by ensuring they are fully oxidised, such as converting CO to CO2?

So if catalysts reduce CO2 from the exhaust, where is it going and what is it converted to? :confused:

Water, nitrogen and oxygen basically.

The EGR recycles some of the exhaust gas back through the engine, meaning it gets burned again, so any left over unburned fuel in it gets used, meaning what comes out of the exhaust should theoretically be cleaner.

[patently]

Water, nitrogen and oxygen basically.

A catalyst converts CO₂ to H₂O, N₂, and O₂? Okaaayyyy....

The EGR recycles some of the exhaust gas back through the engine, meaning it gets burned again, so any left over unburned fuel in it gets used, meaning what comes out of the exhaust should theoretically be cleaner.

That makes sense, but will have the effect of ensuring complete combustion of all HC content, oxidising it to H₂O and CO₂, thereby increasing the CO₂ content in the resulting tailpipe emissions - albeit with a resulting decrease in HC emissions.

[Tipex]

A catalyst converts CO₂ to H₂O, N₂, and O₂? Okaaayyyy....

Here you go-

In a catalytic converter, the catalyst (in the form of platinum and palladium) is coated onto a ceramic honeycomb or ceramic beads that are housed in a muffler-like package attached to the exhaust pipe. The catalyst helps to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. It converts the hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water. It also converts the nitrogen oxides back into nitrogen and oxygen.

[patently]

The catalyst helps to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. It converts the hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water. It also converts the nitrogen oxides back into nitrogen and oxygen.

Yep, so the catalyst converts CO to CO₂, hydrocarbons to CO₂ and H₂0, and oxides of nitrogen back down to N₂. Result is less CO, less HC, less NO_x, and more H₂0, N₂ and CO₂. All of which is a very good idea, of course. But the catalyst does not reduce the C0₂ content in the exhaust gases, in fact it will increase it slightly by eliminating the indisputably-harmful CO and HC emissions.

Edited February 9, 2013 by patently

[Biscuits]

My new car won't be blue....... or green.......

[Tipex]

Two is better than one.

It's like the amps that go up to 11 in Spinal Tap because 11 is one higher than 10

But i'm not aware of any manufacturers that produce a car with two superchargers?

You see it on some of the top fuel dragsters, but it's an incredibly complicated set up, requiring a lot of custom bracketry.

[eldavo69]

Mid-90s Vantage had twin Eatons

[Mook]

My new car won't be blue....... or green.......

It'll be pink