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I know some Audi's, VW's and Benz offer diesel engines in cars here, but why the hell can't we get some Ford, GM or Chrysler cars with diesels? I know the Jeep Patriot is offered overseas in a 2.0 CRD, so what gives? Better MPG's folks.
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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Better mpg but a higher price to fill up. I paid $3.69 today for regular, diesel was $4.29. That's 2 less gallons for the same money on my small gas engine car that holds 12 gallons and gets 30 mpg. Add to that the fact that the diesel versions (see VW Golf) cost $6,000 more than the gas version. Like hybrids, it's a slow payback. Maybe when gas is $5 and diesel were to stay at $4.
I know some Audi's, VW's and Benz offer diesel engines in cars here, but why the hell can't we get some Ford, GM or Chrysler cars with diesels? I know the Jeep Patriot is offered overseas in a 2.0 CRD, so what gives? Better MPG's folks.
You can't get a diesel smartCar here but you can in Canada. The car companies don't want us getting 40+ miles to the gallon silly boy.
I have read a lot of articles where there was a good number of folks wanting a 1/2 ton diesel. The interest is out there, it's just who's going to come up with the first one. GM and Toyota both have considered 1/2 ton diesels. I think I remember Toyota looking at Isuzu for engines. Gm uses them in their Duramax.
Oh, I'm sorry, you were asking about cars. Sorry, my mistake.
The short answer is the current US diesel emission standards. They are different (not necessarily better, just different) from the European diesel emission standards. That makes it prohibitively expensive to certify most car models--especially the lower sales volume models--to the different US emission standards. It's stupid and Congress and the President could fix the problem by simply adopting the same diesel emission standard now in effect in Europe. There are numerous diesel cars on sale in Europe, including some built by US manufacturers, that crack the 50 to 60 mpg (US gallons) fuel economy barrier. In many cases, the diesels also outperform their gasoline counterparts. A good example is the Fiat 500. The soon-to-be-sold in the US gasoline version of this vehicle manages 38 mpg on the highway; the diesel version sold in Europe gets near 60 mpg on the highway--50 percent better fuel economy. This percentage spread in fuel economy is not unusual when diesel engines and gas engines are compared in the same vehicle. Right now, where I live, diesel fuel costs approximately 14% more than gasoline. I'll gladly pay 15% more for fuel for an engine that gets 50% better fuel economy.
I've widely opined that, in the long-run, our automobile/highway-centered lifestyle is not sustainable, but until we have viable alternatives, at least being able to drive the most fuel-efficient vehicles available can buy us some time--especially when those vehicles already exist and are being sold in other parts of the world.
Comes down to the old story of..."you can do it anywhere you wish but not in my backyard".
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