Rumbling seat: Clean diesels are here

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

Photo: Clean diesel Jetta TDI sedan. Credit: Volkswagen of America

Comments

[Howard]

I was recently in Europe and rented a VW Polo diesel, which is a bit smaller than the Jetta, but roomy for four. It cruised easily at 80MPH+, was about as peppy as a Corolla, and got an astounding 60MPG on mostly highway. These are not just my numbers. After I doubted my own math, I checked online and reviewers got similar and better mileage. This car is available now in Europe, but I read there are no plans to import it. I don't know why not.

[Yo]

Yes, I'm waiting for a Bluemotion VW Polo to show up to US. It has a 1.4L TDI triple with 80 hp. It seems small, but my '96 Passat TDI has 1.9 TDI inline four and it has 90 hp. Yes both cars can get to 100+ mph without problem. So why can't we get this Polo with 60+ mpg?

[Jim]

Oh yeah, you forgot the $1,300 Federal tax credit you'll get for owning one...ooops, must have overlooked that.

[J Baustian]

If you want to know why there are not more diesel cars, including 60 mpg and 70 mpg models, ask the CARB, It's not the EPA that is keeping us from getting the fuel-efficient diesel models that are sold in Europe -- it is all the fault of the California Air Resources Board in Sacramento. Yes, those are the bureaucrats you want to blame. So let all your ELECTED officials know what you think about CARB. What are you waiting for?

[Peter]

J. Baustian, thank goodness for the CARB. Without them our air would be just as bad as it was 20 years ago. While I am glad diesels are back, I'd rather have clean air. Without CARB, the impetus to come up with clean diesel would not have been there.

[rob]

CARB is a trend-setter. In NY we aspire to California's level of protection, and see it as the standard to be met. The Federal standard is simply irrelevant in economically important states.

[muD]

It is all about what you want. If you want the lowest cost per mile driven both diesels and hybrids are initially more expensive then gasoline engines. Hybrids have batteries that need to eventually be replaced for thousands of dollars. Diesels last hundreds of thousands of miles before an overhaul, but they generally need synthetic oil and more of it then a gasoline engine.

In the end though, your miles per gallon and cost per mile come down to the weight of the car and the displacement of its engine.

[Sal B]

No one ever mentions the fact that refining petroleum yields 25% less Diesel per barrel than gasoline. So Diesels are not the be-all and end-all of our oil worries. If everyone were to switch to Diesels, we'd need MORE petroleum, not less.

[rob]

Sal:

I believe, however, that a gallon of diesel yields at least 25, maybe even 40 percent more btu.

[Jose]

J Baustian - where are you from? Are you some sort of anti-government College Republican who is too young to remember what the air in LA used to be like?

Or did you never spend a day in Pasadena when you literally couldn't see the mountains? My grandmother, who came to LA on a visit in 1981 after being away for 55 years, asked what happened to the mountains when we were driving down the foothill freeway. She literally could not believe the difference between the air of the late 20's early 30's and the foul summertime miasma of 1981.

I used to have to go out to San Bernardino from Orange County on a regular basis in 1980 and 1981, and it was not pleasant.

So unless you know something we don't, then shut up. The CARB has done a lot of good over the years, and it's worth every small change we have to make to have the air, as bad as it is, cleaner.

[KinOfCain]

Restricting the particulate and NOx emissions are a good thing. CARB's mistake with the diesels was that they were about two years ahead of the European Tier II Bin-5 standards, and about a year ahead of the diesel fuel reformulation. None of the car MFGs were going to accelerate their development of the exhaust treatment systems just to sell a couple thousand in CARB states.

CARB should have synced the bill with the Euro standards, but it's not that big of a deal.

[Steve]

The term "clean diesel" is extremely misleading. These diesels are much cleaner than the old smoke-spewing diesels from the 1980s, but they are MUCH dirtier than comparable gasoline engines. Please check a vehicle's emissions rating (www.epa.gov/greenvehicles) before buying a diesel. You'll find that even the cleanest diesels available put off 4-10 times as much smog-forming pollution than a comparable gasoline engine. Most diesels sold in the US (check under Florida, or under ALL STATES to find the information) earned pollution ratings of 1 or 2. Only a few were rated 3 or better. To compare, the Prius is rated 9 or 9.5, depending on the fuel it burns.

[Bruintechie]

Steve,
We are not talking about all diesels, we are talking about these new diesels. FYI, your 2009 Jetta TDI gets a air pollution score of 6 which is not fantastic, but is much much better than last years models. However, if you believe Wikipedia, blown over pollution from China is rapidly eclipsing personal automobiles as the largest source of air pollution.

[Stephen Doherty]

Here is Europe , Diesel outsells Gas Cars. Even with higher diesel prices the MPG is better. Diesel cars are marginally more expensive and coming down as thats where demand is. Also Better mpg =less co2 emissions period.
One big reason Diesel is more expensive is that the refineries were built originally mainly for petrol-gas refining as diesel was mainly for commercial vehicles and with historically low gas prices, investment in greater diesel refining capacity was minimal. Now there is plenty of petrol refining and diesel refining capacity is bottlenecked.
Fuel here in Europe is about $17++ per Gallon so we care about good mpg. Thats gas prices, Diesel costs more.
New European and State laws will now penalize higher c02 cars on a sliding scale that will get more draconian as years pass. Diesel benefits as it uses less fuel.
Almost 70% of all SUVs and 100% of commercial light and heavy vehicles are Diesel. Taxis in Europe are 80% diesel powered.Every car range (bar sports) is sold with a diesel option.
In theory Diesel due to its simpler design needs less servicing just more frequent air filter changes. The engines are tougher due to the diesel design and thus usually last longer. If you look at mileage with Diesel here, its usually much more.

Hybrids are a rarity here bar the Prius. Mainstream cars that do less than 25-30mpg urban don't sell.
Merc sells more diesel cars in the UK than Petrol versions. Saab sells a twin turbo diesel, Audi won a 24-hr road race (le Mans) in a diesel and has shown an Audi R8 supercar with diesel.Honda stayed out of diesel for ages and suffered with sales. It invested millions and now sells a very good diesel from compact to SUV. There is a little clatter when you start a diesel and you can hear a difference standing next to it but with better pulling power, better MPG, lower c02 and longer engine longevity its better suited to the USA than Europe!!

For small sub-compacts the case for diesel is not as clear, as very efficient light petrol cars can do as well as a Diesel and they offer better performance, in the almost pure urban driving, that they are designed for. Look at the Mini, there is a Diesel version here but you can see that efficient gas engines and less weight are just as good. For bigger cars/suvs/trucks the balance moves.

ps Urea is a liquid that when injected into mercs diesel exhaust, cleans up the exhaust to meet Carbs regulations. This is carried in the merc much like engine coolant.

[Richard Robinson]

Sal B, The good thing about clean diesels is that they can use biodiesel, a fuel that has more energy than gasoline by volume. Biodisel could be produced at the rate of 10,000 gallons per acre using algae, instead of soybeans or palm. My family has 5 diesel vehicles and my brother makes biodiesel from waste vegetable oil that we mix with the petroleum. Someday soon, we hope to stop using petroleum fuel altogether.

[Piet Puk]

For more info on Urea take a look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea

[John Valdez]

Then again people could DRIVE LESS (shaking head).....