“There’s a future for diesel. Today, we want to put a stop, once and for all, to the debate about the demise of diesel technology,” said Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner, who spoke at the company’s annual press conference this week in Stuttgart, Germany.

Denner announced a decisive breakthrough in diesel technology from Bosch which could enable vehicle manufacturers to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) “so drastically that they already comply with future limits.”

Even in real driving emissions (RDE) testing, emissions from vehicles equipped with the new Bosch diesel technology are not only significantly below current limits, but also below those scheduled to come into force from 2020.

Bosch said its engineers achieved these results by refining existing technologies. There is no need for additional components, which would drive up costs.

“Bosch is pushing the boundaries of what is technically feasible,” Denner said. “Equipped with the latest Bosch technology, diesel vehicles will be classed as low-emission vehicles and yet remain affordable.”

The Bosch CEO also called for greater transparency with regard to the CO2 emissions caused by road traffic, and called for fuel consumption and thus CO2 emissions to be also measured under real conditions on the road in the future.

Since 2017, European legislation has required that new passenger car models tested according to an RDE-compliant mix of urban, extra-urban, and freeway cycles emit no more than 168 milligrams of NOx per kilometer. As of 2020, this limit will be cut to 120 milligrams.

Bosch said that even today, vehicles equipped with Bosch diesel technology can achieve as little as 13 milligrams of NOx in standard legally-compliant RDE cycles. That is approximately one-tenth of the prescribed limit that will apply after 2020. When driving in particularly challenging urban conditions, where test parameters are well in excess of legal requirements, the average emissions of the Bosch test vehicles are as low as 40 milligrams per kilometer, Bosch said.

“Bosch engineers have achieved this decisive breakthrough over the past few months. A combination of advanced fuel-injection technology, a newly developed air management system, and intelligent temperature management has made such low readings possible,” the company said in a statement.

“NOx emissions can now remain below the legally permitted level in all driving situations, irrespective of whether the vehicle is driven dynamically or slowly, in freezing conditions or in summer temperatures, on the freeway or in congested city traffic.”

“Diesel will remain an option in urban traffic, whether drivers are tradespeople or commuters,” Denner concluded.