Bharat Stage VI (BS6) Emission Norms: Your New Car will be Less Cruel on The Environment

Our habitat is becoming a less friendly place for us to undertake our lifestyle activities. From taking care of our bodies to acquiring fundamental amenities, each and every task is comparatively more difficult to achieve than it used to be. Environmental degradation is real and it’s about time we keep this immediate concern on top in our priority list. As we all are aware that the prime cause of this extensive degradation is our modern-day “mettle-made horses”, the complex by-products they emit and the magnitude in which they are used.

Although clean, hazard-free electric vehicles are almost “mass-production” ready and are in the final stage of developing operational networks for selling these vehicles and setting-up charging stations, there are still some years down the line remaining for our country to make an entire transition from IC engine vehicles to EV’s until the deadline of 2030 stated by the Govt. of India.

Till then, govt. has decided to adopt for a strategical policy and decided to implement a more extensive emission-norm standard and is shifting to Bharat Stage VI (BS6) emission standards which is equivalent to the Euro-VI norms prevailing in European countries , skipping a significant level in between in order to develop vehicles with the current technology available which emit less harmful pollutants in the air, complementing towards improving the air quality index of the metropolitans of the country especially the National Capital Region.

The govt. has announced a deadline of April 2020 amidst which automobile manufacturers have to make the necessary changes to their production line and equip their further production with BS6 amends to the engine and exhaust system in order to reduce the release of hazardous NOx and particulate matter from the process of combustion.

What are the Changes Made to the Vehicles?

The primary objective is to reduce the NOx and particulate matter emissions from both petrol and diesel engines, hence the following mechanical and technological changes will be made -

• No major changes to be made to petrol vehicles except for remapping the ECU and the mandatory installation of an OBD for the spontaneous diagnosis of emission levels of NOx and particulate matter

• Substantial changes are to be made to diesel engines, Installation of DPF(diesel particulate filter), SCR (selective catalytic reduction), EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) along with an OBD monitoring these components.

• Also, the ECU will also be required to tweak in accordance with these mechanical upgrades

• The pace of the overall combustion process will also be slowed-down in order to efficiently burn fuel and reduce harmful emissions.

BS6 Fuel Grade: changes made to the existing fuel

Complimenting to the amends made to BSVI-spec vehicles, major oil firms like Indian Oil Corporation have been instructed by the government as per the BSVI norms to develop better, high-grade fuel being cleaner and free of complex pollutants. Ever since, oil firms have spent thousands of crores on upgrading the fuel quality index to meet the standards of EURO6 grade fuel.

Primary change made to the fuel composition will be reduction in sulphur content in the fuel which has been 50 parts per million(ppm), will now be reduced to 10 parts per million (ppm). The amount of sulphur present in the fuel is proportional to the emission of sulphur dioxide in the process of combustion which is hazardous to breath in for humans. Hence a lower grade of sulphur in the fuel results in cleaner emissions from vehicles. Also, fuel with less complex constituents will be more efficient to combust hence improving performance and fuel efficiency.

Vehicles currently prevailing on BSIV standards will also be serve with a better grade of fuel and hence this will improve their efficiency also, since BSVI fuel will be nothing else but a more evolved and purified version of the BSIV fuel hence will be complaint with existing vehicles also.

Pricing of The BS6 Fuel

Even though oil firms have spend over thousand crores of funds on the development of the “best quality of fuel till date”, there are no plans of these companies to lay down the cost burden on the ultimate consumers and hence fuel prices are expected are remain the same initially until the supply is enhanced cities other than the prominent metropolitans and the national capital region.

Will These Changes Fulfill Their Objective?

Automotive companies along with the respective OEM’S have put in a lot of manhours from R&D till the application of these components in the vehicles while being administered by a strict deadline in order to assure a product with better emission standards and less harmful for the environment.

The outcome assures to fulfil the following objectives –

• To reduce NOx emission by 25% in petrol engines and by 68% in diesel engines

• To reduce particulate matter reduction by 80% in diesel engines

• To equip vehicles with a more enhanced emission monitoring system

• To encourage the production of a high-grade fuel to compliments these changes

All these changes(especially changes made to diesel engines) will mean having an in-built purification plant embedded in your vehicle which will work to curb harmful emissions in a more spontaneous and comprehensive manner.

How will These BS6 Changes Affect the Cost for Both The Manufacturers and the Consumers?

It is evident from the list of upgrades made to these cars that the prices are likely to take a hike especially when it comes to diesel engines, companies have spent a lot of money developing a new platform for these vehicles and working on developing dedicated components.

However, companies having a wide range of products will have the advantage of spreading the cost of production throughout their range and hence reducing the burden of cost on the ultimate consumer.

This strategical and comprehensive measures is seen to be a very crucial one as per the current scenario of Air quality in the capital region and is projected towards improving the fundamental air quality standards at a substantial level.

By Vaibhav Arora