Why hasn't any EU automaker jumped on the hybrid technology?

[Speedy]

The oil companies are in no hurry to have you run a Diesel car and cut demand for their products by 40% or more. It is no accident that Diesel is about $.55 higher on the wholesale level than gasoline.

[OWC Jamie]

the 6 cent additional tax on diesel is no accident

the transition to more expensive low sulfer diesel is no accident

higher demand for diesel is not an accident

[RAMd®d]

I'd get a Tesla in a heartbeat if I could afford it.

The sedan is supposed to be more affordable; we'll see when it finally ships.

Along with the purchase price (base and options), there are additional costs for high capacity charging-- the "quick charger" and improved house wiring.

I agree that a diesel-electric vehicle would be desirable, but for me that would be applicable for longer trips than I could get from electric-only. *Almost* any electric car would cover 90% of my driving.

Tesla should get some of that bail-out money.

[JJ]

billb wrote:
gasoline sales are increasing in Europe and emmission controls (diesel) similar to those in this country are slowly being adopted ther (in Europe), too.
I really don't think some of those living in air quality sensitive areas on the West coast would appreciate waking up to the stench of diesel every morning (as with many other countries).

2009 VW Jetta TDI Does Not Stink

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/New...eId=122792

JJ

[simonm]

billb wrote:
gasoline sales are increasing in Europe and emmission controls (diesel) similar to those in this country are slowly being adopted ther (in Europe), too.
I really don't think some of those living in air quality sensitive areas on the West coast would appreciate waking up to the stench of diesel every morning (as with many other countries).

In Europe, diesels do not generally have a "stench." This may have been true 40-50 years ago but even then i don't really recall diesels smelling worse than petrol vehicles. Afiak the typical European diesel has <6ppm sulphur whereas there was a point where US diesel had 200ppm. That could well give a stench. European diesels would not survive with that amount of sulphur (more precisely all the emission control stop would be destroyed). The availability of diesel with low sulphur is the controlling factor for diesel vehicle sales. No manaufacturer is going to launch a vehicle in the knowledge that in a few years it will not meet any emission control requirements mainly because the fuel that will allow it to meet the requirements is not available.

[OWC Jamie]

OK, the exhaust fron a diesel engine smells pristine.
(yeah, right)
But the particulate matter from diesels has brought every major European city back to the pollution levels of a hundred years ago when they burned coal exclusively.

Pick any air quality test site and nitrogen oxides and particulates from diesels are tops on the lists of pollution ingredients.

[Speedy]

The tax difference could easily be obviated should there be a resurgence in Diesel vehicles. But even with the tax Diesel should be cheap because it cost less to refine than gasoline, even low sulfur Diesel. The high demand is not because it is so high but because it is inelastic compared to gasoline. Trucks run no matter the cost of Diesel.

New emission controls soon to take effect will make Diesel exhaust as odorless as gasoline exhaust. And particulate emissions will also go way down. Hard to get rid of the nitrogen compounds...

billb wrote:
the 6 cent additional tax on diesel is no accident

the transition to more expensive low sulfer diesel is no accident

higher demand for diesel is not an accident

[OWC Jamie]

gasoline exhaust is odorless ?

emmissionless, too ?



These improvements are nice, but anyone with breathing problems are not neccessarily impressed.

My point isn't that diesel is bad compared to petrol , just that it substitutes one set of polllutants with another.
The jury is still not out on which set is any better than the other. Air quality studies around the world keep bearing this out.

[JJ]

billb wrote:
OK, the exhaust fron a diesel engine smells pristine.
(yeah, right)
But the particulate matter from diesels has brought every major European city back to the pollution levels of a hundred years ago when they burned coal exclusively.

Pick any air quality test site and nitrogen oxides and particulates from diesels are tops on the lists of pollution ingredients.

Diesel Particulate Filters

The new VW uses one, that is one of the reasons it meets Tier 2 bin 5.

Green Car Journal' announces 2009 Green Car of the Year
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10103980-48.html

2009 Green Car Of The Year: The Volkswagen Jetta TDI
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/...r-year.php

The 2009 Jetta TDI is eligible for the $1300 Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle Federal Income Tax Credit.

JJ

P.S. Some European cities have retrofitted their buses with DPFs.