Coming Soon from VW: A 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid

[tinrobot]

It's official - Volkswagen is unveiling a hybrid to challenge the mighty Toyota Prius. And not just any hybrid, but a diesel-electric hybrid it says will deliver 69.9 mpg.

VW's been experimenting with hybrids of the gasoline-electric variety since the early 1990s, but the Golf hybrid it will unveil next month at the Geneva Motor Show is the first production model the German company's rolled out. Volkswagen isn't offering much in the way of details, but the car is expected to have a parallel hybrid drivetrain with a 2.0 liter engine. Look for it to have an all-electric mode at low speed, start-stop capability, regenerative braking and a 7-speed DSG double-clutch transmission, according to Auto Express and AutoBlog Green.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/02/vw-unveiling-an.html

[libbygurl]

1. I love VWs! Can't wait to try this out! But WHEN are the prices of DIESEL fuel coming down?

I think that in most other parts of the world, the less-refined diesel is the cheapest of the fuels. Why is it the MOST EXPENSIVE in the US?

[happyslug]

3. In the US most states tax it higher than Gasoline.

For details see:
http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp

[libbygurl]

4. Thanks for the link/page. But base price of diesel remains higher than the other grades...

...at least in the state where I live, since the taxes on diesel and gasoline are exactly the same.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel adds some of the costs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-low_sulfur_diesel#United_States
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/ulsd/chapter7.html
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/highway-diesel/regs/420f06064.htm
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ac27bf9339f1c28525701c005e2edf/405d2f1b56c262e9852569bc00558db3!OpenDocument

[ben_meyers]

5. Taxes and low sulpher mandate. n/t

[diane in sf]

7. Make or buy veggie diesel.

[bullwinkle428]

9. Another dirty little secret - diesel prices kept higher to subsidize

gasoline prices!! There are far fewer diesel consumers in terms of actual numbers, so the corporatocracy sees this as a much easier problem to deal with, in terms of who may want to "revolt" against them.

This provides the car makers with another excuse for not building new vehicles with diesel engines, although a number of foreign based manufacturers will be bringing their new diesel vehicles to the U.S. over the next 2-3 years!

[libbygurl]

10. Europe is so way ahead with the diesel engines. Many, many trucks here use diesel, too,...

...don't they?

Until the gov't actually takes the lead in wiser use of energy resources, the oil companies will continue to foist these falsely inflated prices upon us.

What has happened to America that the country's fallen so far behind in the drive to energy efficiency and wiser use of resources?

Oh, forgot - the pervasive corporatism that now runs everything here.

[amandabeech]

11. Many large trucks use diesel.

Semis and dumptrucks, for example, are diesel.

Some medium-sized trucks can be purchased with a diesel engine, I believe.

Until recently, diesel engines used a high-sulfur fuel that caused acid rain and produced many particulates. The autos have a reputation of being noisy and lacking in pick up.

Now, low-sulfur diesel is being phased in (or has been) and there have been many improvements in smaller diesel engines. Expect to see more on the road.

[libbygurl]

12. In Europe, all the cars I've ridden in have been diesel-fuelled, and they've refined...

...the fuel so well now and improved the engine so much that you can barely hear that distinctive purr when it's running.

And performance-wise, they're equal, if not better, than gasoline engines - notable especially in Germany, with their extremely high-speed sections on their Autobahns where one's car can go 220 miles per hour or more without gasping. Not to mention more energy-efficient.

I'm still unclear about why diesel costs so much more here! Since so many trucks use it, too - on which a lot of the economy depends, given that we don't have good, more-efficient-than-trucks freight train system here to transport goods across the country!

[amandabeech]

13. I don't know why diesel is so expensive, either.

Actually, our freight rail system is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Demand is now far outstripping supply, and the railroad companies are currently laying a considerable amount of track to speed shipments and add capacity.

For example, CSX is planning to add tracks between DC and Florida so that there would be slower heavy freight tracks, and another set for passenger rail and higher-speed priority freight.

Track is being laid like crazy out west to bring coal, which we have not replaced yet, east to generating plants. Another set of tracks is being laid from LA east into Texas and Louisiana. One of the railroad companies is increasing the height of tunnels through the Appalachian ridges in Pennsylvania so that double-stacked container cars can run through the tunnel.

It seems as though everyone has figured out that rail uses a lot less diesel for long and medium distance hauls. I'd like to see truckers get first dibs on new rail jobs, actually, because I don't think that there will be nearly as much trucking in the future as there is now.

Who knows, maybe, with high gasoline prices, passenger rail service on short and medium distance lines will become more popular and service will improve.

[roody]

2. I already drive a diesel Golf on recycled biodiesel.

The price is never coming down. I get 48mpg now, but not in town which is most of my driving.

[dweller]

6. if they can build the 2.0 Ltr gas/electric to replace the 2.0 Ltr

air-cooled in my 77 bus, i'd be one happy guy.

but until then i'll keep mine.
dp