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Pickups Diesels Diesels in the News
8143 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 12:10 PM
You are in the Diesels Forum. Your Host is kcram
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 29, 2008 6:47 am) 
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Replying to: ruking1 (Sep 29, 2008 6:51 am) Well, there ARE exceptions to every rule. Anyone who thinks there are "Anti-Diesel Ninjas" out there somewhere whispering in the ears of the regulators to "Kill The Diesel Cars" doesn't quite get it.
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 29, 2008 6:56 am)
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Replying to: ruking1 (Sep 29, 2008 6:58 am) Saying that puts you outside the group who understands the issue.
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 29, 2008 7:08 am)  Let's put it another way. The slow leak of diesels into the "system" is threatening at whole complexes of different levels. |
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as noted several times previously herein. GM, Ford and Toyota are deliberately limiting production and sales here. However it has nothing to do with anti-diesel ninjas nor corrurpt agencies of our corrupt governmen nor some cabal of oil companies. The reason is a lot simpler than that... ...it's staring us back in the mirror every morning. WE the N American buying public are at fault!!! WE do not want our small compact vehicles to be anything more than low-priced basic econoboxs. WE do not want to pay a premium for fuel in order to save fuel. WE do not want advanced technology for saving fuel if we have to pay more for it. Hybrids have some success. Diesels have a ultra-loyal following. However Mr/Mrs Everyday Small Car Buyer doesn't want to spend $20000+ for a small econobox with expensive fuel efficient capabilities ( Mr ruking1 is a prime example in rejecting expensive hybrid tehcnnology for a $13000 Civic ). If the buyers are going to spend that much money they want a midsized auto. The GM and Ford and Toyota marketing types recognize this basic drive when buyers go to showrooms. The automakers must provide vehicles that the basic buyer will actually want to buy. Those would be Corollas and Civics and Cobalts and Focus', all basic gassers. That's what WE want them to build.
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 29, 2008 7:27 am) When the diesel car DEMAND gets strong enough, the cars will be here. There is no other major cause than merely a lack of buyers. |
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 29, 2008 7:27 am) So truly "WE" are NOT serious about better fuel mileage when we continue to have a defact 22 mpg fleet wide with a stated 27 mpg standard. |
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Now diesel will get more efficient and cleaner: Amazing A small gadget that can be fitted to diesel engines boosts fuel efficiency by up to 19% and can make them run more cleanly, engineers report. A weak electric field is used to make fuel less viscous before it is injected into the engine. That makes it possible to spray smaller drops that burn more completely. The device was developed at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and costs less than $200 to produce. In tests over six months on a 2002 Mercedes-Benz 300D sedan, a prototype device increased fuel efficiency by 12 to 15% under urban driving conditions, and 19% in highway driving – taking it from 32 to 38 miles per gallon. "This is the biggest efficiency increase since the advent of fuel injection," claims Rongjia Tao from Temple University. The device has been licensed to Californian firm Save the World Air, which is now testing it in road haulage vehicles. Fluctuating flow An electric field makes diesel thinner because some molecules in the fuel become charged and aggregate together, reducing their overall surface area. That means less friction between them, and a less viscous fuel. Tao and colleagues believe fuel efficiency gains were lower under stop-start urban driving conditions because the rate at which fuel flows through their device constantly varies. They are working on a version that varies its electric field to match fuel flow rate and keep viscosity constantly reduced. Matt Thomas of CFD Research Corporation works on similar fuel electrification techniques. He says fitting the device to new cars will not produce such spectacular efficiency gains, but adds that it would still cut emissions. "[If] you charge spray prior to fuel injection you could lower particulate emissions by as much as a factor of 10."
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More thus-far unfounded "yakking" about the supposed high demand for diesel cars in the USA "The message is clear: the time for clean diesel is now," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum. "With only a few choices available to consumers, diesels have already dramatically cut energy consumption and reduced CO2 emissions. With more choices on the way, Americans will continue to benefit as we continue to introduce the public to this new generation of clean diesel cars and light truck choices." Only half of those surveyed, for instance, believe diesel-powered vehicles get better gas mileage than gasoline-powered vehicles. New diesel technologies, in fact, get up to 40 percent better fuel efficiency. For the survey, pollsters from Yankelovich Partners interviewed 1,003 Americans in the national sample and 403 adults in California between July 14 and 21 for the survey. The sampling error is 3.1 percent plus or minus. "Most people are surprised to learn that diesel pickup trucks outsold hybrids 2.5 to 1 from 2003-2007 and saved 21 times more fuel than all hybrids combined," Schaeffer said. Count me among the group who would be "surprised" by that statement. He's obviously not talking about in the USA - must be talking about worldwide. We can rest assured, however, that if true, he forgot to mention that the pickups "out-polluted" the hybrids by huge amounts, too. |
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