[Charles Martel]

The government warned that the move, which will also take in hybrid vehicles, was needed because of the unnecessary and avoidable impact that poor air quality was having on people’s health. Ministers believe it poses the largest environment risk to public health in the UK, costing up to £2.7bn in lost productivity in one recent year.

I'd love to see the breakdown on that 2.7 Billion in lost productivity. Sounds like a total fabrication to me.

Last December, I was in London and admittedly, the streets are busy. Thousands of those little London taxis are clattering about - most cars that you see on the streets are diesels. For all that (and the red buses too), I don't recall ever seeing or smelling exhaust fumes. I was expecting to see some sign of this problem and repeatedly looked for it, but it just wasn't there demanding notice.

Whatever is really behind this, it's not air quality.

[firebrand]

Don’t tell me the London taxis are now little! You used to be able to dance in the back seat.

[mewzilla]

Catalytic converters gave gotten much better. But they need to be replaced when no longer functioning properly.

Also, anyone know: does the UK have low sulfur diesel available for sale? Just the high stuff? If the UK just has the high sulfur stuff for sale, I can see why the latest gen catalytic converters might not be solving the problem for them. In which case, import the low sulfur stuff and/or replace the converters more often.

But bailing on diesel is nuts.