Diesels We Can't Buy in North America

North America has been, let's face it, utterly slow in accepting diesel as an alternate fuel for passenger cars. To the average North American driver a diesel is what powers dumptrucks, farm tractors, and 18-wheeled rigs.

On the other side of the Atlantic where they average automobile driving consumer is somewhat more enlightened, diesels account for about half the passenger cars on the road.

Autobloggreen.com put together a gallery of 10 diesels available in Europe that are not sold here in North America.

Check out some of these numbers:

10) Chrysler Grand Voyager CRD - 9.4L/100km (25 mpg US)
9) Porsche Cayenne Diesel - 9.4L/100km (25 mpg US)
8) Volvo XC60 - 7.6L/100km (31 mpg US)
7) Jaguar XF S Diesel - 6.7L/100km (35 mpg US)
6) Honda Accord Tourer Type-S - 5.9L/100km (40 mpg US)
5) VW CC Blue TDi - 5.6L/100km (42 mpg US)
4) BMW 116d - 4.4L/100km (53 mpg US)
3) MINI Cooper D - 3.9L/100km (60 mpg US)
2) Ford Fiesta ecoNetic - 3.7L/100km (64 mpg US)
1) smart ForTwo CDI - 3.3L/100km (72 mpg US)

From minivans, to SUVs, to luxury sedans, to wagons, to compacts and subcompacts... each of these vehicles is sold in North America (not always the same name, but the same vehicle nonetheless) with a gasoline burning engine that doesn't even come close to the fuel economy of their diesel burning counterparts, and in some cases doesn't even match the performance numbers either.

Friday Update

I haven't had a whole lot of time lately to update this blog with articles as much as I'd like to... but there are a few in the past few days that I'd like to touch on briefly.

First, I really want to redo my "How Much Does That Hybrid Really Cost" article that I wrote up a few months ago. With the current fuel prices being so low, that article would take on a whole new dimension. The amortization period for a brand new hybrid now must be astronomically high! The huge premium that hybrid buyers were suckered into paying earlier this year when their popularity skyrocketed must be a very painful pill to swallow right now.

Secondly, the 2 most economical hybrids that were sold in the USA are now not elligible for the hybrid tax credit. Yes, the Toyota Prius (which was bumped last year) and Honda Civic Hybrid (which will be axed from the list at the end of 2008) have sold enough cars to be considered mainstream enough to not need any tax credit incentives to sell. What about the cars that are left? Of the 16 still elligible for the credit, only ONE gets better than 33 miles per gallon.

That's laughable!

In fact, 13 of the 16 vehicles left on the list are large, low-mileage SUVs! It's a joke... a totally, hypocritical joke! Half those huge hybrids won't even be around showrooms in a year or two because they aren't selling, even as "fuel efficient" hybrids.

Lastly, some good news!

While GM and Chrysler are busy scrambling to sell their models that nobody wants, Ford is busy looking ahead instead of behind and are continuing to develop their small cars for North America! For anyone that keeps an eye on what they produce at Ford in Europe, this is exciting news! Personally I can't want to see some ST and RS models of the new Focus, Fiesta, and possible even Ka come to showrooms here.

Chrysler's EV Recipe

(Also known as "how to copy Tesla in 3 easy steps".)

1) Buy a Lotus... everyone's go-to when they need something cool, quick, and light weight! In Chrysler's case, it was the new Europa, vs. Tesla's choice of an Elise.

2) Remove all the gasoline burning parts.

3) Replace said parts with high powered electric motor, to the tune of 268hp.


They figure it'll go from 0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds, top out at about 120 miles per hour, and will be able to cover 150-200 miles on a single charge (which they claim will take 8 hours on 110v, and 4 hours on a 220v circuit).

This is how to make, and sell EVs. GM take note. Having an arse-ugly, four-door, Civic/Prius crossbreed that can only do 40 miles on a charge is not the way to make people take note.

As for this little EV... remove the Viper copycat stripes and I'd buy one!

More HERE.

Chrysler Engineers Try Something New: Thinking

Using nothing but the power of their brains, engineers at Chrysler have managed to increase their minivan's fuel efficiency by 8%! Yes, instead of just slapping a bunch of random parts together and pawning it off on soccer moms across America, they actually took a few moments to think about what they could do to make their vans a little friendly at the pump.

According to them:

A re-tuned six-speed transmission and higher numerical first gear launches Chrysler and Dodge minivans more briskly than a comparable four- or five-speed transmission. The engine also provides smaller steps between ratios, which means the engine speed changes less with each shift, creating a smooth driving dynamic, with improved fuel economy.

(When they say "the engine also provides smaller steps between ratios" I'll assume they meant that in actuality the transmission provides smaller steps, since engines have nothing to do with gear ratios.)

Yes, instead of trying to fit just one more cupholder into a van which already had more cupholders than seats, they decided to apply a little engineering know-how to make the van go further on a tank of gas. A random side-effect of this usage of their brains is that they made it smoother to boot.

Wow!

Other automakers take note: More Gears = Better Mileage.

I'm surprised nobody came up with this sooner.

Oh wait... sports cars have been using 6 speed gearboxes for years. And Mercedes equips a few of their sedans with 7 speeds...