So why won't CO2 become the standard for European vehicular air conditioning systems?

First, because the prime line of production vehicles everyone expected to be the first to use CO2 systems, will not.

Why won't they?
A. Because of the extremely high cost of the CO2 Production Tooling that the manufacturer would have to pony up "right now" for 2008 and beyond vehicles, tied with B. the lingering doubt that CO2 will be accepted by the industry.

And now: C. DuPont announced a lower Global Warming replacement for R-134a that operates at similar temperatures and pressures (versus 400%+ higher pressures for CO2). Any manufacturer would be reluctant to $witch to $uch a dra$tically new A/C $ystem that could $uffer from dra$tically new operating (warranty) problem$.

Essentially, this manufacturer doesn't trust that the even THEIR clientele will pay the premium for a "greener" A/C system...now that CO2 won't actually be that much "greener."

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