The petrol doomsayers will bemoan that with first world fuel comes higher prices. We’ve all been sold a lie, in my opinion. The short answer is, because they don’t have to.
“So why doesn’t the fuel companies bring in the same fuel it gives to Europe?” I hear you asking. But now the market has become import-only, Australia is forced to take vehicles from other markets that are built, typically, to the standards of the first world and thus demand first world fuel quality. Unencumbered by emissions targets and built to run on our crap fuel, locally-produced cars made a lot of sense. We're a patriotic bunch when it comes to cars and up until recently, we proudly produced cars in this country. But when car companies can’t offer the latest tech in their vehicles (or the vehicles themselves), the consumer reaction is quite different. If Apple had unveiled the first generation iPhone to the world, but was unable to offer it in Australia due to a lack of charging suitability, folks would be rioting in the streets. As a car lover and a tech nerd I’m devastated by this outcome as consumers we should all be infuriated. Rather than bringing in the latest and greatest in engine technology to Australia, my parent company in Germany has decided to not take the technical risk with customer’s cars and will not offer it here. An engine choked by soot won’t run, which means issues for motorists and the technicians needing to fix the vehicles. In essence, the excessive sulphur particles in our petrol would get stuck in the filter, leading to blockages. While this feature has been around for quite some time in diesel engines, even in Australia, petrol particulate filters won’t cop Australia’s dirty, sulphurous fuel.
One such development is the fitment of particulate filters on petrol engines. It means that the engineering geniuses behind the world’s carmakers have to come up with new ways to make internal combustion engines cleaner and more efficient. In order to stay ahead of ever-tightening emissions standards, Europe has adopted a new, real world-based vehicle testing program, commonly known by the acronym WLTP (or World Harmonized Light Vehicle Testing Procedure, if you like tongue twisters). That might not sound like much, but what that means for European brands like Volkswagen who I work for is that it rules out a bunch of upcoming cars, and ultimately technological advancement, for our market. At best case, our premium unleaded petrol contains on average 50 particles per million (ppm) of sulphur, lagging well and truly behind the 10 ppm of Europe’s.
That makes us the worst of any OECD nations. Australia ranks 70th overall for fuel quality due to its high sulphur content (d on’t believe me? Watch this: ). The optimist in me believes that Australia is the best country on the planet and there are plenty of reasons why that is absolutely true but for my neck of the woods, in the car industry, we’re being totally left behind.įor starters, our fuel is crap. Australia is becoming an automotive third world. Yeah, I know… “Volkswagen spin doctor has the audacity to criticise Australia’s fuel standards ” but hear me out.
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