Content area
Full Text
We've been talking about the phase-in of R-1234yf for several years. Most of the dickering has finally ended, and this year the refrigerant of the future becomes the refrigerant of the present.
This the year that R-1234yf really takes off in the U.S. market. Although Europe has already made much of the changeover, in our market, only Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had some real volume in the low-global-warming potential (GWP) refrigerant. Sure, we'd see a Honda Fit EV, a Cadillac XTS or occasionally another specialty model with R-1234vf, but the way the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations are phased in, this year- the 2017 model year-is when the action is occurring. And many shops will have to make equipment decisions sooner rather than later.
We don't have to "predict" the end of the R-134a era. The EPA has announced that as of 2021, all cars and light trucks for sale in the U.S. must use a low-GWP refrigerant. So unless carbon dioxide systems (R744 is CCT as a refrigerant) come on stream here, it's R-1234yf. The mediumand heavy-duty vehicles will surely follow, with the EPA saying it will promulgate the rules for them sometime this year.
Don't go running to lay in a big stock of R-134a. There will be no retrofit to R-134a systems, because they were not built to accept the mildly flammable R-1234yf. The EPA has made it clear that R-134a will be available as long as there's a service industry market for it.
The reason for the 2017 model year rollout of R-1234yf is because of the way the EPA regulations for CAFE credits were developed. General Motors will begin an aggressive changeover soon and expects to have virtually all models with R-1234yf by the end of the year. Ford began with the Escape crossover last month, but ^ the pace of the changeover hasn't | yet been disclosed. Interestingly, EuI I carmakers, who have been ö legally obligated in Europe to use £ R-1234yf on "new type" models, have held off on models for sale elsewhere.
Also set up for R-1234yf is Daimler. This company has raised all manner of objections to R-1234yf in the past, posting videos of tests purporting to show potential dangers from the mildly...