How much warning do you get before you run out of gas?
How fast and far can you drive once you run out of gas?
The DEF tank holds 5 gallons of DEF, it’s recommended to top it off at every oil change 3.5 - 4 gallons , every 7,500 miles, for a lot of people that’s once every 6 months
That’s the key point imo, driver’s know that when out of gas, engine won’t run. Fundamental issue, and must be frequently addressed. On other hand, DEF is not fundamental to engine running, and an infrequent worry. Driver’s aren’t worried about the remaining DEF as much as remaining gasoline. Seems hard to justify to put a driver in serious danger, remember this could be a young women or an elderly person, simply b/c of a regulation not fundamental to vehicle operation.
The only way the EPA will count the emissions improvement with DEF is if the truck can’t be used without it, I bet. Otherwise folks will just keep driving.
This is kind of like how the EU is disappointed with plug-in hybrids. Turns out lots of folks aren’t plugging in, eliminating the benefit of that whole system.
That’s probably the EPA’s reasoning. But seems like a compromise of limiting speed to 35 mph would be nearly as effective an air pollution deterrent, and wouldn’t put drivers in so much danger if they neglected to top off the DEF. I mean, how many drivers are going to continue driving their cars limited to 35 mph, when they could resume normal operation by pouring in some more DEF?
They’ve had a yellow light on the dash for about week telling them to ad DEF,
They know what will happen to them if they run out DEF.
Just like they know what will happen if they run out of fuel.
So where is the “Serious danger” ?
Your post 16 above has the manufacturer’s warning for potential danger. If your point is that drivers seem to be given plenty of advance warning before having to face that danger, I’ll grant that point.
Watched another airplane crash analysis tv show last night. Flight from Indonesia to Australia, 40 - 50 passengers. Soon after takeoff plane inundated by weird streams of light, almost impossible to see out of windshield, engines surrounded by same thing. Pilots had never seen anything like that before. That seems like adequate warning for the pilot to turn the plane around. Instead they kept going, soon afterward all four engines stopped.
… and I noticed today that my local Walmart had plenty of DEF on their shelves.
So much for the supposed shortage that was hyped by some elements of the media…
I haven’t heard of a DEF shortage, but have heard lots of a diesel fuel shortage. I haven’t seen that yet, either.
That occurred in May 2022.
While some supply issues were experienced in the US, it has not become a persistent problem, at least for now. Furthermore, many even claim that concerns over DEF shortages in the US were overblown and misleading, sighting a viral Facebook post that circulated in May of 2022, fueling major concerns over DEF shortages. This post has since been debunked as mostly rumors and misinformation.