Guess who is number one on the Automobile Enviromental Index? You may think Honda with all it’s low powered 4 bangers, but it’s actually VW!
Volkswagen ranks highest among nameplates in the Automotive Environmental Index, with three models in the top 30. While there are no diesels within the top 30, several diesel models from Volkswagen also perform well, which is reflected in VW’s strong overall nameplate performance. VW is followed in the nameplate rankings by Honda and Mazda, respectively.
Way to go diesels! It goes on to talk about Hybrids and Diesels and how people have unattainable views on fuel savings.
On average, consumers considering a hybrid expect to pay approximately $5,250 more for the powertrain option. Acknowledging the increased vehicle price, these consumers expect an average fuel economy improvement of 28 miles per gallon compared to a similar vehicle powered by a gasoline internal combustion engine, when in reality, hybrid owners report getting an average improvement of just 9 mpg. Consumers considering a diesel expect to pay approximately $2,800 more for the option and expect an average fuel economy improvement of 21 mpg, while diesel owners report getting a 12 mpg improvement on average. Those considering an E85 vehicle are unsure whether to expect to pay more for the option or see an improvement in fuel economy, but instead hope the use of the ethanol-based fuel blend will help reduce U.S. dependency on foreign fuels. The availability of fuel or fueling stations is the largest concern among consumers considering a flexible fuel or diesel-powered vehicle.
“One of the biggest challenges for alternative powertrains is that consumers often have unrealistic expectations for the fuel-saving abilities of these vehicles,” Marshall said. “And particularly with hybrids, actual fuel performance often doesn’t live up to the vehicle’s EPA estimate. There is a real need to educate consumers about the technology and its benefits. Managing consumer expectations and lowering the cost premium will be instrumental in accelerating acceptance.”
I expected about a 20mpg increase by moving to a diesel and I’m actually almost getting that. If I drove slow and didn’t take off I would get about 28mpg(a couple times even 30mpg) in my Camaro with mostly highway miles. That’s pretty good for what the car is. I was hoping to get anywhere from 45-50mpg with my diesel and right now I’m at about 48mpg in my Jetta.
The difference is research. I didn’t just decide gas sucks I need a diesel. I have been studying this for about 6 months making sure it will fit my needs. Since I drive mostly highway and i wanted a bit easier car to drive the diesel Jetta was perfect. If I was to be only in the city and in stop and go traffic I may have thought about a hybrid….but probably not. When we see how a hybrid does in about 5 years of real world driving by people who don’t give a crap about cars and don’t treat it great we’ll see how the car still holds up. Then I will have an opinion about them, but right now diesel engines have been around over 100 years and can walk the walk. Hopefully others deciding on a new vehicle will stumble onto this while researching and it will help them out, even if they decide a diesel isn’t for them right now. As long as they’re informed and any misperceptions about diesels are erased I’m happy.
As I’ve been reading alot lately the switch to low sulphur diesel hasn’t made much noise to diesel drivers, but it has to refineries and vendors. The switch is fairly involved for refineries and they are not able to pump out as much diesel. Doug Aron, vice president of corporate finance for Frontier Oil Corp said, “The process to make ultra-low-sulfur diesel took us several years of planning, and the actual construction can’t just happen overnight.” This has led to more fluctuations and higher prices for diesel all around the country. In some parts of Wyoming they are even having to ration out sales to 50-70 gallons a customer, and while that would be no problem for my Jetta. When you have a semi that can usually hold 300 gallons that adds time and other expenses to their trip.
Hopefully we’ll see prices come back down in a month or two as things start to settle, refineries Katrina knocked out come back online, and the transition to ULSD is completed.
Report from Wyoming
Los Alamos National Labratory and PerriQuest Defense Research Enterprises, LLC have entered into a research and development agreement to come up with a commercially viable solution for Plasma Assisted Combustion.
The point of their technology is that an electronic device is attached to an existing fuel injector. The device will then apply an electrical voltage to the atomized fuel stream which is what generates the plasma in the fuel. This essentially atomizes the fuel even better which gives the fuel a more complete burn resulting in more miles per gallon or less emissions……..but not both. This technology will actually work for diesel, gas, or turbine engines.
Who’s going to be the first person with the “My plasma-bio-diesel engine get’s 100mpg!” bumpersticker?
Link to PhysOrg
I like the green theme for the connotations I want to evoke such as “environmentally friendly”. Obviously one of the largest obstacles diesel has to overcome. The days of smoking dirty diesels are gone, and people need to understand how they can benefit. As soon as the Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions specifications hit, new diesels will have to run as clean as gassers……….but we’ll still get much better mileage.;)
Anyway I digress. I’m open to any suggestions people have. Either post them or email me (which I put at the sidebar). I’ll be breaking out more categories, such as biodiesel news as I’ve learned more about it. Does anyone know of a diesel price tracking site? If not I can start putting one together, but it will only workout if people post the prices they find. I have no fear that will be a problem though considering how passionate alot of the diesel owners are.
Over the past week I’ve been open I’ve had over 3000 page hits with more than 500 unique visitors so I’m hoping this means people are enjoying what I’m doing. Don’t be afraid to post your opinions or anything else. Unless there’s a problem sometime in the future you don’t have to join anything to post. You’re free to post anonymously even. Anyway like I said, enjoy it
Peugeot has come out with a 170hp 277lb. ft. of torque midrange luxury car dubbed the 607 HDi 170 sedan. The luxo-hauler also boasts the first four cylinder twin turbo diesel in production. This direct injected, common rail diesel is using sequential twin parallel turbos on a 2.2L engine and will still knockout about 40mpg.
Almost like the last model twin turbo Supra the 607 has one turbo operating at low rpms and the second kicks in for the added boost in between 2600 and 3200 rpms according to how much load is on the engine and atmospheric conditions. The amazing thing is you’ll hit peak torque at only 1500rpms. The standard features are things like Xenon headlamps, leather(with front and rear heated seats), navigation, in fact the only option is which one of five colors you’d like it to be.
If this ever comes to the states you can put me on the waiting list.
Edmunds Article
You can just make this stuff outa anything!? So I was clicking around and trying to learn more about diesel blah blah blah….. When I came to this article about a company from New Zealand that was using sewage to create biodiesel.
Aquaflow Bionomic has made the first biodiesel fuel from wild algea. Previously only done in labs with specially grown algea Aquaflow’s comes from Marlborough District Council’s sewage treatment works. I doubt it gets more wild than that. The extra benefit is you get clean water to use also.(I won’t be drinking it) I can’t wait for the future when we’ve run out of oil and people are fighting for sewage.
Article
A nursery in Australia will soon be growing a “diesel tree” also known as Copaifera langsdorfii. One tree is supposed to be able to produce up to 14 gallons of sap that is good enough to pour straight into your fuel tank.
I had never heard of this so I did some research and apparently this tree grows in South America and has been used for years. In 1982 an American scientist tried to mix a species of weed with this tree to allow it to grow in the less used arid parts of the country. The end result was to be the birth of “energy plantations”, but it seems like it didn’t get to far because I couldn’t find anything about it after that.
Maybe there will be renewed interest now from our friends down under and with changes in scinece and technology, since 1982, something more can be done with this source of fuel.
News Article
Well as it turns out the NOx emissions levels were harder to reach to meet the EPA’s Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions levels. Initially DC thought the DeNOx catalytic system they had devised would be enough, but it fell just short of requirements for 50 state compliance.
With only 45 state compliance DC will miss out on one of the biggest car markets and the one most hungry for diesels, California. Although, I’m sure it won’t be long before we see models with 7500 miles and premium price tag sent over. It looks like MB will have to implement their urea based solution called AdBlue. However, it remains to be seen if the EPA will even certify that as a valid system since enforcement may prove to be difficult to monitor.
Unfortunately Tier 2 Bin 5 requirements state the NOx levels emitted must be .05 grams per million, and the E320 came in at .06g/mi. Maybe they’ll be able to bring it out as a midyear model? Either way I think this is a hit for diesels if MB couldn’t get it to pass.
Link to Article
The Japanese seem to be under the same impression as Americans. Diesel is dirty and loud. This is evidenced by the fact that the only current diesel in Japan is the Toyota Landcruiser SUV. As…..how should I say…”the enlightened” we know that doesn’t necessarily have to be true.
Mercedes Benz is taking on the challenge to help relaunch this segment of vehicles, but is also asking for help from other manufacturers to get it going. Toyota and Honda both have diesel cars in Europe, but so far have not made any plans to use them in their home markets. I hope they do soon because in the world market we live in today more diesels sold abroad means more money to invest in technology for everyone.
I think we’re on the eve of the diesel assault on the world, and it’s these beginning plays that will give a glimpse on what’s to come. People are seeming more disenchanted with hybrids when they realize unless they’re in stop and go traffic where they can continually use the battery they are not getting the mileage in the propaganda. The only thing that can help more is that day when large portions of the hybrid crowd’s battery packs start dying and they are faced with a huge bill to replace or sell the car which will be worth virtually nothing. Have any of them thought ahead to the day they want to sell the car and the big question potential buyers will have is, “How many miles( or hours) on this battery pack?”. It’ll also be funny to see ads for them. Do the people say they have mostly highway miles so the buyer thinks the battery is still pretty fresh?
Diesel in Japan
The article at the end i’m referring to was actually done July 7th, but I just wanted to comment on the lack of diesel advertising.
VW’s has been having a very successful year especially within the last 6 months since they’ve been concentrating on entry and mid-level vehicles. The return of the rabbit has been great for them, and I do like their commercial of all the Rabbits going around town until they’ve multiplied like rabbits so much they can’t move. It’s “cute” and I agree they’ve been marketing very well. If I had a pimped out ride I’d want to “un-pimp my ride”…..okay, I didn’t really like those commercials, but I did remember them.
Rabbit Commercial
Unpimp my ride
However, I’ve never seen any advertising for their diesel cars like the Jetta, Golf, and V10 Touareg. Lucky for them this news story is gushing about how well the Touareg performs and that it’s 50 state compliant. VW also gets to claim they were “clean” first with the Touareg being the first light duty vehicle to incorporate a particulate filter. The Touareg also has 310hp and 553lbs.-ft. of torque at only 2000 rpms, while still getting 30% better mileage than the gasser.
It also goes on to say how the diesel Touaregs took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd(Luxury SUV class) at the Pikes Peak Invitational with no other changes than the safety requirements to run. Why is it everytime a diesel is competing in a race against gassers it seems to be winning? I’m sure those pesky refueling stops that they don’t have to do as frequently on the road or in a race are helping. So congrats again to VW for winning another race. GM, FoMoCo, and DC you may want to be taking notes.
Article