PROMOTION ON BEHALF OF NATIONAL REFRIGERANTS
As we all know by now, R-134a was banned in all new vehicles produced in Europe from January 2017, with the replacement needing to have a GWP below 150.
Step forward HFO R-1234yf which at the end of 2020, was contained in over 120 million cars Worldwide, with 65 million cars on the road in Europe using this fluid.
All Worldwide vehicle manufacturers have now adopted R-1234yf as their Refrigerant of choice and is the standard fluid across their vehicle platforms. R-744 (CO2) is available in a few German-made vehicles if you are willing to pay an optional charge when buying the car.
More recently, VW has announced on its Electric Vehicle platform, the new ID3 and ID4 will be fitted with standard R-1234yf as usual – however, if you select the option to include a heat pump, then the fluid fitted is R-744. A heat pump acts as an A/C unit in reverse – as an air conditioner uses refrigerant to trap heat inside an area and cool it off before moving it outside, the heat pump has a reversing valve that reverses the refrigerant flow – thus, the heat pump disperses heat instead of cold air.
The heat pump will provide both heat and A/C and is said to consume approximately a 3rd less power than the standard electric strip heater and thus offer an increased driving range from the battery life. Heat pump technology is common now in EV’s, including TESLA and Jaguar – however, only VW are offering it fitted with R-744.
It’s clear that R-1234yf is the chosen fluid for all manufacturers in their A/C systems now – R-744 is currently very niche with very limited use – however, rest assured, National Refrigerants can meet all your cooling requirements via your local National supplier – R-134a to service your old vehicle, and both R-1234yf and R-744 for your new cars.
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