Blog posts. Various topics.

[Damn True]

Diesel and bio diesel are plenty mature. So where is it?

Diesel in the US suffers from two problems.

The first is a matter of image. Most people think a diesel powered car will smoke and sound like an old Mercedes 300D or their neighbors 1-ton Chevy. Since most Americans haven't been to Europe where the majority of cars on the road are diesel and you'd never know it they don't realize that this is no longer the case. So the demand for passenger car diesel is fairly low.

The second is that they are doing the math wrong. Yes diesel in most metro area's costs about 7-10 percent more. But when you get 10-20 percent better mileage it works out. The cars are more expensive but the premium from gas to diesel models is in most cases a lower percentage than comparable gas to hybrid comparisons as well. US and Asian automakers have dropped the ball on diesel in the US. They are afraid of it. Every Euro automaker (other than the strictly performance/super performance brands) will offer at least one diesel model in the US this year. Audi will offer everything they import with a diesel option by 2011. ChryCo (via Fiat) could score a huge win if they can be the first to the US market with a modern diesel if they can get off their a$$ an import the Cinquecento or the Alfa 159.



Bio-diesel is a non-starter for high pressure modern direct injected diesels. It's fine I suppose for an F-350 or a John Deere but it's use will void the warranty on any 2010 or newer VW or Audi, IIRC the same is true for the Blue-tec diesels as well in Daimlers. Non-standardized production methods, non-standardized shipping and storage methods, no purity regulations. From an economic standpoint it's not nearly as bad as ethanol but it's potential is limited by many of the same factors.