Rumbling seat: Clean diesels are here
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
In certain circles, albeit rather gear- and green-oriented ones, this is a very exciting day. No, not because of the 94 to 105 kg men’s Olympic weightlifting final, but because as of today, diesel is officially back.
Volkswagen begins delivery today of its 50-state legal Jetta TDI, the first ‘clean diesel’ vehicle to be sold in the U.S. (Yes, that means here in California too!) It’s presumptively the first of a flood of European-made diesels to hit every one of our states, including some exciting numbers by Mercedes-Benz.
Sure, these newfangled diesels are arriving about two model years later than had been expected, but dagnab it, they’re here!
Volkswagen is hoping that the technology, which is especially efficient in highway driving, will ...
... be its answer to the hybrid — a fuel-efficient miracle car of sorts — but one that’s not as complex and expensive to make as a car such as the Toyota Prius.
Diesels are inherently more efficient than gasoline engines and can squeeze 30% or more miles out of every gallon burned. And unlike the smoky numbers of the 1970s, today’s diesels are quieter and peppier and smell better.
The Jetta TDI is EPA rated at a combined 33 miles per gallon for the sedan and 34 mpg for the SportWagen. That compares with 24 mpg for the gasoline-powered versions of the cars.
Of course, the technology involved in making a diesel burner conform to this country’s extremely stringent standards — including a fancy NOx storage catalyst that obviates the use of urea (we don’t know what that means, either) — is hardly simple, and making cars for the current marketplace took years of planning.
Car product cycles run three to five years, and unfortunately for automakers that invested in clean diesel technology, the cost of diesel fuel in the U.S. ain’t what it was five years ago. Back then, it sold for $1.50 a gallon, 13 cents less than regular gasoline.
The national average price for a gallon of diesel is $4.21 today, compared with $2.87 a year ago. That’s a 47% increase in just one year. Gasoline, by comparison, stands at $3.74, up 34% in the last 52 weeks.
How times have changed. Diesel costs nearly 13% more than gasoline. And diesel cars cost significantly more — in the case of the Jetta TDI, which starts at $21,990, it’s about $2,500 more expensive than the gasoline version. Do the math, and diesel suddenly seems a little bit less economical.
That said, even some hybrid makers are considering the technology. Honda has a clean diesel in the works, which it calls the i-DTEC, that could top 60 mpg. And Mercedes, which has been floating rumors of electric cars lately, will begin delivering its 50-state clean diesels, known as Bluetec, in November.
— Ken Bensinger