Diesel or hybrid?
 

Check out BadStratRT's homepage article about Marchionne's declarations about the future of MPG. Do you think Marchionne's right? Does diesel have a more promising future than electric?

Diesel all the way!

Diesel or Hybrid?
 

One of the issues here is that we tend to look at this debate as a national issue. Let's take this to a global level. After all, Fiat is now a major owner of Dodge parent company, Chrysler and has quite a share of business in international markets. With that in mind, most of the European countries have gone to diesel power quite a while ago. We have not done so because of the strict EPA regulations on Nitrous Oxides which now forces us to use Urea (Ford and GM) or extra catalyst (Ram) and reduces efficiency. So, we do our part to reduce green house emissions while the rest of world does not. Is that right? Of course not. But we still need to think globally. Diesel makes the most sense if the EPA does not choke it off so much as to be inefficient. Also, diesel hybrid makes sense. My last comment deals with the price of diesel fuel. It is ridiculous that the price of diesel - a less refined by-product of oil - is higher than gasoline. It is strictly political. Comments?

green diesel is the way to go anyways. Made from soybean and other plants etc. gas biproduct is a suckish option IMO.

I agree - it won't be electric
 

The reality is that there are millions of vehicles operating today that use the internal combustion engine. Your average automobile owner looks for a long-term purchase when they buy a vehicle. Most people will not want or be able to afford an electric vehicle in the distant future - 20+ years.

What the automakers can do for all of us to get the current internal combustion engines, gasoline/diesel, to operate on another fuel. I think the best option is developing a system to convert these engines to operate on hydrogen. I do believe a challenge to American engineering and ingenuity will successfully develop a conversion system - water to hydrogen - pressurize the hydrogen gas and use it as the sole fuel or an additive to gas/diesel. I've seen the Youtube videos and I don't believe them. I'll be happy to believe it when I see it - in person. They all say the same thing - we're not in it for the money. Really? Then publish everything. Enough said.

Modern engines can produce huge amounts of voltage and, I believe, could generate the hydrogen gas needed to operate or assist fossil fuels in the operation of the engine. Whether you know it or not, the spark of the spark plug is not 12-volts it is in the thousands of volts due to the collapsing field in the coil during engine operation.

I'll be happy when I can purchase a new Dodge Ram 2500 with a diesel fuel tank on one side and a water tank, for hydrogen conversion, on the other.

America can do this. JFK - the President challenged America to land a man on the moon and successfully return him to earth within 10-years. All we need is leadership on any level - public or private - to do the same thing.

i want the electric or hydrogen to go to and from my desk job...but i want the Clean diesel for the weekend when i use my TRUCK!!!

Retired ASE GAM
 

There is a place for hybrid vehicles. Diesels should dominate the segment of non-hybrid vehicles. With proper design, diesels could take the corporate average for cars over the 54.4 MPG requirement.

Three facts not commonly known

1. Diesel has about 1/3 more energy per gallon than gasoline

2. The engine design of a diesel multiplies the amount of energy that can be derived from the diesel and can make the diesel run much cleaner than the gasoline engine.

3. More than 50% of the cars sold in Europe are diesel.

Add to this, the performance of a diesel compared to the same size gas engine is awesome.

+1 nurre924 from a chemical standpoint diesels are very efficient in the energy harnessed. There is a reason why a truck can run an 11sec 1/4, get 17mpgs, and haul 20,000 lbs.

There sure is. Google the GM EV-1...the hybrids can join that POS. You'd have to have your head up your ass to not see how fully retarded the technology really is. A car costing $30K and with 2 separate drive systems that only gets 45-50 mpg is ****ing pathetic. A '91 geo metro got 60 mpg just by being small, light and using a tiny engine. Nothing expensive to buy, cheap to maintain, and no expensive batteries to lose their charge in 2 years. Also no 800 volts of juice to fry your hippie ass, and no gallons of toxic waste just waiting to rupture and melt your face off, poison the water supply or pollute more than every hummer ever built. If you MUST spend $30K then get a TDI VW. 55 mpg's, decent performance, tried and true technology and VW diesels are proven to go 300K miles or more if you take care of them.

I agree that diesels should be used a lot more. But I also think that applies mostly to trucks. A car with a diesel engine seems a bit wierd to me, but Im a performance enthusiast. Crossovers, B-cars and things like that seem well suited to diesels as well.

DOT Testing in the 1970s
 

In the late 1970s, the US Department of Transportation was doing research with the idea in mind that Congress would outlaw diesel engines in new vehicles, trucks included because of high pollution. This reseach was started because of the visible exhaust diesels made under hard exceleration. Their research found that, while diesels may pollute while under exceleration, they produced zero emissions except carbon dioxide and water. This is because the diesel at cruise runs an air fuel ratio of around 100:1. Diesels have no throttle on air intake to control speed. They control engine power and speed by controlling the amount of fuel injected. The burn of the fuel is initiated by the heat caused when the fuel and air are compressed. Because of this, the fuel burns completely, leaving no unburnt fuel.

Gas engines run about 14.5:1 air fuel ratio and can never burn the fuel completely in the combustion chamber.

Turbo diesels in all vehicles can perform right alongside their gas engined conterparts. The 5.9 liter Cummins diesel in the Dodge RAM develops around 560 footpounds of torque although the horsepower is only the the 200 - 300 horsepower range. Torque is what gets you up hill or off the line. Horsepower determines your top speed.

Diesels should be in all types of vehicles.