Honeywell maintains defence of new air-conditioning refrigerant

European Commission investigating the French authorities refusal to offer type approval of the Mercedes-Benz models not using r1234yf.

Honeywell has again strongly defended the r1234yf air-conditioning refrigerant it has developed in conjunction with DuPont after Daimler refused to use the substance in its cars. The issue has hit the headlines again after it was reported last week that the French authorities were refusing to type approve the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, B-Class and SL-Class as they contravened European Commission directives banning the older CO2-based 134a refrigerant because of its high level of greenhouse gas emissions. Daimler said it would not use the new refrigerant after one of its cars caught fire following a crash test last year. However, Honeywell has always maintained its product is safe and instead hit back at Daimler's failure to adopt the new refrigerant as standard.