Here is a great article written by Robert Schoenberger from the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky. It’s all good info and much better than I could write. about the future of diesel so take a look.

Sean King used to hate diesel engines.

They were noisy, they made cars shake and starting them up created a thick cloud of black smoke.

That was 20 years ago.

“We start them up inside the dealership these days,” said King, retail sales manager for Louisville Mercedes dealer Tafel Motors.

New federal regulations are forcing major changes in the diesel market. Today, truck stops and gas stations across the country begin selling ultra-low-sulfur diesel, a cleaner version of the fuel that is expected to lead to huge reductions in harmful emissions.

In January, new diesel engine rules will force automakers to cut emissions by as much as 95 percent.

As a result, new diesel-powered vehicles will run smoother and quieter than previous models. Those advances, coupled with high gasoline prices, have automakers scrambling to get models on the road.

By 2010, U.S. customers will have diesel options for everything from small compact cars to large sport utility vehicles.

“You just can’t walk away from a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy,” said Jim Kelly, engine business president for diesel engine maker Cummins Inc., based in Columbus, Ind.

What’s coming
On the commercial truck side, the stricter diesel regulations have forced new versions of big diesel engines for commercial pickups at Ford, at DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group and at General Motors.

Next year, the Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks built at the Kentucky Truck Plant on Chamberlain Lane in Louisville will get high-tech 6.4-liter diesel engines that the automaker calls the cleanest models available.

Last week, Cummins announced it would add 600 to 800 jobs at its Columbus (Ind.) Engine Plant to build diesel engines for Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep trucks and SUVs. Cummins has provided engines for Dodge heavy duty trucks since the 1989 model year, but this will be its first foray into mass-market diesels.

And the Chrysler Group vehicles won’t be the only consumer diesels on the road.

Analysts expect GM to launch diesels for consumer trucks and SUVs by 2010, and Ford has announced plans for a diesel F-150 pickup. Ford has discussed the possibility of making a diesel version of the Louisville-built Explorer SUV.

“I would absolutely love to see a diesel Explorer,” said Kevin Riddell, an analyst with market research firm J.D. Power & Co. in Detroit. “I have one, and I’d love to get 25 miles per gallon of diesel instead of 18 for gas.”

Ford officials declined to comment on diesel plans, other than to confirm the F-150 version.

Chrysler has dropped the diesel Jeep Liberty because of emissions standards, but the automaker will offer a diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee in January using a V-6 Mercedes engine.

On the car side, Honda has shown off a four-cylinder diesel engine that could be used in its midsized Accord sedan in the next few years. Volkswagen plans diesel Beetle compact cars and Jetta midsized sedans by 2008.

VW dropped diesel Jettas and Beetles for 2007 because the engines did not meet emissions standards.

The only new passenger-car diesel in the United States next year will be the $52,325 Mercedes E320, and it won’t meet pollution standards in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York or Vermont.

VW will have a $67,750 version of its Touareg SUV with a V-10 diesel engine, and Mercedes will have a diesel ML320 SUV and R320 wagon.

Big or small?
Casey Selecman, an analyst with automotive forecasting firm CSM Worldwide, said Ford, GM and Chrysler are concentrating their efforts on big vehicles because they use more gasoline.

“They’re putting fuel-economy technology where it saves the most fuel,” Selecman said.

On the other hand, Honda can use fuel-efficient, low-emissions diesel sedans to draw buyers away from Toyota’s hybrid models, he said. Riddell added that automakers that make both diesels and hybrids will be able to offer custom-fit vehicles to buyers with environmental concerns.

“If you drive in long commutes every day, diesels are better,” Riddell said. “If you’re driving in the city every day, a hybrid is better.”

Diesels tend to get their best fuel economy in highway driving while hybrids are designed to boost economy in stop-and-go conditions.

Riddell said he is not convinced that Honda will be able to get its vehicles to market on time. Technological hurdles still must be overcome for its engines to be cost effective and able to meet emissions standards.

“You’re really going to see the growth coming from the European companies,” Riddell said, referring mainly to Mercedes and VW.

In Europe, where fuel is more expensive, diesel cars make up more than half of the market, Kelly and others said. European emissions standards are less stringent than in the United States, making small diesels more affordable. Riddell added that those cost differences are why the diesel cars on sale in the United States tend to be expensive luxury models.

Analysts said Ford, GM and Chrysler all sell small diesels in Europe, but upgrading those vehicles to comply with U.S. pollution standards would be prohibitively expensive.

Why now?
Despite the challenges inherent in making mass-market diesels, automakers are readying them for one major reason: fuel efficiency.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that diesel engines are 20 percent to 40 percent more fuel efficient than gasoline models.

“The fuel shock was one of the things that opened people’s eyes to diesels,” Riddell said, referring to $3-per-gallon gas last year and earlier this year.

Rich Kassel, head of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s clean fuels and vehicles projects, said even with the stricter regulations, diesels will be attractive because consumers are demanding fuel efficiency.

“So long as the price of oil is on the front pages of newspapers and on the news every night, car buyers are going to continue to be concerned with how it affects their spending,” he said during a conference call with reporters last week to discuss new diesel standards.

Kassel added that the stricter emissions standards also help make the engines more refined, overcoming a major stumbling block with many buyers. Many drivers associate diesels with black-smoke-belching dump trucks or poorly built cars sold in the early 1980s, analysts said. Automakers and engine companies will have to work hard to overcome that image.

Joe Loughrey, Cummins president and chief operating officer, said he hopes drivers will give the new vehicles a try when they get on the road.

“Because of some of the things that happened in the past and some outdated images of diesels, it will take some time to gain acceptance,” Loughrey said.

Tafel Motors’ King said many customers are surprised when they see his modern Mercedes diesels.

“It’s going to be pretty hard to tell the difference between the gas (cars) and the diesels,” he said.

Source: courier-journal.com