It’s Time To Know What BS6 Vehicles Have For You

For more than some time now, we are constantly hearing the term Bharat Stage 6 (BS6). And with the Supreme Court’s verdict directing the automobile makers to sell out all the BS4 vehicles before April 20, both the demand and confusion for BS6 vehicles have begun in India. Well, before you know what are the uses that come with vehicles built with BS6 engine it is of vitality to know the basic difference between BS4 & BS6 vehicles so that you know why this stipulation is made compulsory by the government and how the customer will benefit from this act.

An overview of the Bharat Stage (BS) Emission Standards:

The Bharat Stage Emission Standards were initially launched in the nation in 2000. The motto behind this launch is to keep down the air pollution that’s being emitted by automobiles. Over the years from the launching year, the Indian Government at regular intervals started to make the vehicle emission norms even stricter. Following the year 2000, BS2 and BS3 regulations were rolled out in 2001 and 2005 correspondingly which of course are stricter in emission rules and standards of BS1. However, instead of BS5, the government made up to go straight away with BS6 doing away the BS5.

Remember, same as many other automobile industry dependant countries across the globe the government of India also followed stringent standards to meet the emission standards followed by European nations and the US.

In nutshell, BS6 aims to completely stop the manufacturing & sale of BS4 vehicles to reduce air pollutants.

BS6 objectives explained in more detail…

As said earlier, the Government of India has made it compulsory across PAN India from 1st April 2020 to strictly go for BS6 engines across both the engine & diesel versions. This indicates no one will be capable of registering a BS4 vehicle starting from the aforesaid date.

The implementation of these norms will also bring the emission norms in India at par with the US and the European countries.

Why India has opted for BS6 norms? 

The decision to jump to BS6 from BS4 skipping off BS5 has many reasons. The main reason according to the Central Pollution Control Board which falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Environment and Climate is to bring down the ever-growing air pollution across the nation. The emission of Particular matter (PM), NOx and NMHC (Non-methane Hydrocarbons) is increasingly taking a toll on the climate and health of the citizens. In addition to this, BS6 is more fuel-efficient which will drastically reduce the need for fossil fuels like petrol & diesel.

What are the upgrades to the BS6 vehicles?

The introduction automatically asks for the onset of BS6 variant engines and in India companies like Maruti Suzuki have already launched BS6 compatible cars, all in all, there are 7 models queued up form this auto-maker. The engines come with modern technology such as Lean NOx traps (LNTs), diesel particulate filters (DPFs) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units to meet the strict BS6 norms.

Along with this, there will also be fuel upgrades to meet the fuel necessity of BS6 engines. 

Can you drive a BS6 car using BS4 fuel?

To a certain extent YES, as far as petrol engines are concerned there’s no issue as there’s no major fuel composition difference needed for BS4 & BS6 petrol variants. However, the same can’t be said for diesel vehicles. When BS6 vehicles run using BS4 fuel, emissions will get hiked, fuel economy will decrease and can as well lead to engine problems like failure of fuel delivery into the engine. From what appears now, even the industry is split over the same topic. However, the automakers are differentiated on this and more studies and researches have to be conducted to know the efficacy of using BS4 fuel for BS6 diesel engines.

All said and done, now you know why there’s such hype for BS6 vehicles. Adding more to the propaganda are these benefits that nature and customers will get from BS6 implementation.

The BS6 vehicles’ benefits include: –

• NOx emissions are reduced by 25% in petrol engines.
• The engine control application gets upgraded to give better performance and for more accurate fuel injection control otherwise without which there would be no room for cleaner emission.
• Mileage for sure is going to be increased irrespective of the engine type.