Nissan Diesel co-develops particulate filter

Tokyo, Japan—Nissan Diesel Motor Co. and the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection are jointly developing a filter for removing particulate matter from diesel-truck exhaust, reports Nikkei America. The filter is reportedly designed to remove nearly 90% of particulate emissions from diesel engines.

Researchers now plan to fit the devices to prototype trucks to see how it affects fuel economy and test its long-term durability. Total cost of the truck and filter is about $135,000 (17 million yen); about $40,000 (5 million yen) is the cost of the filter. Company officials say the cost of the filter needs to be reduced to about $8,000 (1 million yen) to actually commercialize it.