French Court Overturns Sales Ban Of Daimler Vehicles Using R134a

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: May 6th, 2014

french court overturns sales ban of daimler vehicles using r134a

France’s Conseil d’Etat announced Monday that it has overturned the government’s ban of a handful of Mercedes-Benz vehicles over parent company Daimler’s refusal to cease usage of R134a coolant currently under phase-out by the European Union.

Reuters reports the ban — issued by France’s ecology minister Ségolène Royal — was overturned after the court found her order unjustified, stating the vehicles affected did not show “a serious threat to the environment.”

Though vehicles sold in the EU were mandated to use R1234yf beginning in 2013, Daimler cited potential, unacceptable safety issues with the new coolant. Instead, the automaker continued to use R134a in its A-Class, B-Class, CLA and SL models, which were the vehicles banned from being sold in France. Daimler plans to replace the outgoing coolant with CO2 systems by 2017.

#Bans #Co2 #CourtRulings #DaimlerAG #EuropeanUnion #France #R1234yf #R134a #Refrigerants

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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Sproc on May 06, 2014

I believe it's a competing technology with R1234yf. It's referred to as R744. Nice summary here: http://www.ohio.edu/mechanical/thermo/Applied/Chapt.7_11/Chapter9.html Gotta be safer from a flammability standpoint. I'm just slightly weary of a complex high pressure CO2 system in an enclosed garage.

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- Cdotson on May 06, 2014
  
  "I’m just slightly weary of a complex high pressure CO2 system in an enclosed garage." Why would that be, exactly? CO2 is not poisonous, although it can dilute the oxygen in the air and because it is nearly twice as dense as air it can settle to the floor and displace air causing CO2 buildup in your bloodstream. Assuming you weren't asleep on the floor in your garage you should either be above the height of a dangerous concentration or notice the effects before succumbing. Plus a CO2 HVAC system might hold what, 4 lbs or so of refrigerant? That's roughly 2 cubic meters, or 70 cubic feet of gas at atmospheric pressure. Settling into a 10x20 garage space that would be a bit over 4" high off the floor assuming a clear space and the refrigerant entirely releases. Hardly seems dangerous to me.
  
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- Sproc on May 06, 2014
  
  @cdotson Good points, you're right that the volume shouldn't be dangerous. I was thinking in terms of CO2 fire suppression systems in enclosed spaces which can be very dangerous. From both environmental and thermal efficiency standpoints, R744 seems to make a lot of sense.
  
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- Redav on May 06, 2014
  
  @cdotson I believe CO2 is toxic at high enough concentrations--not just an asphyxiant. I don't know if 4 lb in a garage is enough to be a hazard, but I suspect it's less of an issue than having a gasoline link.
  
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Psychoboy on May 06, 2014

carbon dioxide? intentionally concentrated and installed in the front end of cars where it could be easily released into the atmosphere and awaken ManBearPig? tell me it can't be so! I hope Daimler has bought all the carbon credits they need from AlGore.

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- Piro on May 08, 2014
  
  You're joking, right? Existing refrigerants have massively higher Global Warming Potential than CO2. CO2 is actually pretty low (defined as 1).
  
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- Rpn453 on May 19, 2014
  
  @piro No, he's totally serial.
  
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NeilM on May 06, 2014

I propose a heat activated release valve for the CO2 system. If your car catches fire, the A/C puts it out. Genius!

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- Piro on May 08, 2014
  
  Good point! Massively safer than most refrigerants, especially 1234yf, boycotted for this exact reason (horrific chemical fire).
  
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Corey Lewis on May 08, 2014

That's a nice photo of a Toyota Matrix with redesigned grille.

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