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October 24, 2007
Diesels are taking over in Europe.
While Asian car makers are busy putting their eggs into gas-electric hybrid technology - Toyota sees hybrids being the main powertrain of its vehicles by 2020 - Europe has moved aggressively ahead with clean diesel engines. (U.S. automakers are playing coy, investing in all technologies but committing to none.)
I just returned from a trip to visit family in southern England and the tractor-toc of diesel engines could be heard from cars large and small, including the 2007 VW Passat 2.0 TDI that I rented from Budget Rent A Car at Heathrow Airport and the 2007 BMW 118 d M Sport Diesel rocket my sister-in-law drives.
TDI stands for Turbo Direct Injection which is the heart of the Audi-VW new diesel technology, the key being the intense pressure under which the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber. Indeed, while diesel is more oily than gasoline, the pressure is such that it is virtually turned into a gas, making combustion more intense and more efficient.
And to prove their technology, Audi's TDI R10 race cars have won the last two Le Mans 24-Hour Endurance Races in grand style. These cars are ferociously fast.
Getting back to my modest Passat, l found its performance to be outstanding in comparison with a gasoline engine. Certainly, the traditional torque of diesel-power provided a powerful and solid kick to its acceleration.
More important perhaps, the price was right. In all, I traveled 490 miles. The car was full when I rented it and I refueled it just once and that was before returning it. The tank was just under half empty and needed 38.6 liters to fill.
Translating into American, that’s about 10.2 gallons, which equates to an excellent 48 miles to the gallon. In addition, the fuel’s efficiency makes it cleaner from an emissions point of view.
Let's see: Fast, quiet, economic to run and lower emissions. Sounds like a winner to me!
Incidentally, another sign of the times in Europe: Of the three nozzles at each of the pump stands at the BP station, only one was gasoline – 95 octane at the equivalent of about $7 a gallon. The other two were diesel – Ultima at $7.69 a gallon and regular at $7.35 a gallon.
That’s expensive, but when you are getting 48 miles to the gallon, the economics work and that’s why Europeans increasingly drive new diesels. Indeed, sales of diesel-powered cars in Europe topped 50% in 2006 (51%), rising to 52.2% for the first six months of this year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. About 75 percent of the cars in Norway now run on diesel.
I am not saying clean diesel is the answer. Gas hybrids are a real alternative with diesel hybrids perhaps being the best of both worlds. And down the line, fuel cell electric power perhaps provides a real glimpse of the future. But that future is at lesat 20 years away.
In the meantime, clean diesel offers a solid step up from gasoline and as I have mentioned a number of times, now that most the U.S. has low-sulfur diesel available, look for a big increase in sales of European diesels starting next year.
I just wish Volvo would get on and bring its V50 2.4D5 diesel wagon over here!
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 2:38 PM to commentary
| Permalink
Right on! I can't wait for those new diesels. They've done a lot to make them smooth, quiet, and responsive. I think they have a particulate emissions problem over here and are delaying over the filter. Can't wait for that technology to be available for boats as well.
Posted by: Jack Hubbard on October 24, 2007 3:53 PM
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.
