Green Options » subaru

Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline

Clayton B. Cornell — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:32:01 +0000

New diesels will get better mileage and have cleaner emissions than your average car. Pictured above: 2009 Jetta SportWagen 2L TDI Clean Diesel.

Later this year (see the timeline below), we will finally begin to see an influx of new model diesels in the United States. While diesels make up 50% of the market share of vehicles in Europe, they’re still trying to shrug off the stigma of being dirty, noisy beasts here in the US. So what changed?

What are “clean” diesels?

In 2006, the EPA required the introduction of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), which removed a major polluting component of diesel fuel. Since sulfur would damage advanced emissions control systems, ULSD paved the way for better emissions control technology.

As early as August, we will start to see a new era of diesels that employ new technology to meet the strictest emissions standards in the world—BIN5/LEV II—which are enforced by 5 US states: California, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and Vermont. BIN5/LEV II standards severely cap nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions (0.05 g/mile), one of the two tailpipe pollutants that have given diesels a bad rap (that and particulate matter).

Newer filters in these emissions systems trap particulate matter, while each model uses its own method to process NOx. Several models, including those from BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, will require the maintenance of a six- to eight-gallon tank of urea. The ammonia-rich solution (for example: Mercedes BlueTEC) is injected into exhaust to neutralize smog-forming nitrogen oxides. Since the urea tanks only require replenishing every 12,000 miles or so, inconvenience seems minimal, and some models, like Honda and VW diesels, meet emissions requirements without them.

While you might expect most of these diesels to get exceptional mileage, some of them do surprisingly poor. For example, the Mercedes and Audi models only get around 18/25 MPG (making this a good reason to continue to avoid SUVs). I know that the new emissions technology is supposed to negatively affect mileage, but 25 MPG is unimpressive, considering that VW’s Jetta BlueTDI got a road tested 60 MPG.

While the high price of diesel fuel is eating into some of the economic advantage of buying a new diesel vehicle, the difference is offset by mileage gains of 25 to 40% over comparable gas models. You might not see too much difference in sticker prices, either. Some models could cost $1,500 to $3,500 more for this new emissions control technology, but VW says its Jetta SportWagens could cost $2,000 less. Also be on the lookout for Federal tax credits that could be as large as $3,400 per vehicle.

When can we expect to see clean diesels in the US? Here’s the timeline:

1. Volkswagen

When: August 2008
Models: 2009 Jetta BlueTDI sedans and SportWagens
Engine: 2-liter turbodiesel in-line 4
Est. Mileage: 29/40 m.p.g. Sedan road tested at 60 MPG.
Est. Base Price: $22,000 to $25,000

2. Mercedes

When: November 2008
Models: Mercedes-Benz ML320 Bluetec, other GL-, ML- and R-Class sport crossover utilities (and someday: Vision GLK BlueTec diesel hybrid).
Engine: 3-liter turbodiesel V-6
EPA Mileage: 18/24 m.p.g.
Est. Base Price: $46,000

3. BMW

When: Fall 2008
Models: 335d sedan and X5 35d sport wagon
Engine: variable twin-turbo 6-cylinder
Est. Mileage: ?
Est. Base Price: ?

4. Audi

When: January 2009
Models: Q7 3.0 TDI utility wagon
Engine: 3-liter turbodiesel V-6
Est. Mileage: 18/25 m.p.g.
Est. Base Price: $53,000

5. Honda (yes it’s true)

When: 2009
Models: Acura TSX sedan, other models could follow
Engine: 2.2-liter i-DTEC
Est. Mileage: 34/53 MPG
Est. Base Price: ?

6. Jeep

When: 2009
Models: Jeep Grand Cherokee

7. General Motors/Ford/Dodge

When: 2009 or 2010
Models: Light-duty pickup trucks

8. Nissan

When: 2010
Models: Maxima sedan

9. Subaru

When: 2010
Models: Legacy sedan or Outback wagon
Engine: 2-liter turbodiesel flat 4
Est. Mileage: 33/47 m.p.g. (Outback)
Est. Base Price: $28,000 (Outback)

Header Photo Credit: VW

For more, see: Diesel Engines Clean Up for an Encore (New York Times)

Posts Related to Clean Diesels:

Subaru Unleashes R1e Electric Car on New York

Benjamin Jones — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:50:51 +0000

ABG recently reported on the fact that the new Subaru R1e has recently been spotted tooling around the streets in New York City as part of an official trial in the US, which is an extension of the 40 (soon to be 100) car trial currently taking placing in Japan.

In light of this new development, I thought it would be prudent to show off some of the most exciting features of theR1e, beginning with the fact that it is an all electric version of a production car made by major manufacturers to be affordable and useful to average citizens (though these needs might be a bit different depending on the market).

It’s exciting enough in and of itself to see a major initiative from a major manufacturer (yeah yeah, the Volt, sure), but this car is pretty sweet on its own.

More after the break!

The test is taking place in Kanagawa Prefecture, where Subaru plans to set up 150 of its “fast charge stations” to complement predicted sales of 5k+ EVs in the next five years. These fast charge stations are different from normal outlets and can deliver an 80% charge to the R1e in just 15 minutes! At home the 40 kW lithium-ion pack requires 8 hours for a full charge.

The R1e’s lithium pack is good for 50 miles at up to 65 MPH, with its most impressive feature being a 10 year or 124,000 mile lifetime expectancy. This issue has troubled hybrids and EVs in the past, so this kind of durability guarantee is certainly exciting to see in a production vehicle.

For those of you who don’t know, the Subaru R1 is a small car that is well known in Japan and perhaps perfectly suited for EV conversion. It might be a little smaller than the norm in the US market, but we’re seeing more and more talk about importing these kei-class cars to the US so by the time it happens it might not be as revolutionary as it seems.

I’ll be looking forward to more news, for sure.

Source: ABG

Subaru STI: Is Diesel the Intersection of Power and Fuel Economy?

Benjamin Jones — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:41:32 +0000

We all know that fast cars are fun and fuel-sipping cars are environmentally responsible, but is there a middle ground?

Short of expensive electric sports cars like the Tesla Roadster, there may be a solution to be found in diesel. Not only can diesel cars be fueled with waste vegetable oil, biodiesel, or some mixture of these fuels, but diesel engines produce a lot of torque and get better fuel economy than their gasoline-powered brethren.

Autoexpress reports that the Impreza lineup will soon feature a 2.0L diesel engine sporting 148 bhp - but that engine could easily be tuned up to 180bhp for use in a sportier WRX model. This model could go 0-60 in under 7 seconds and wouldn’t top out until a respectable 140 mph.

Certainly impressive, but what we really care about is the fact that this engine could achieve up to 45mpg and reduce CO2 emissions 40% compared to the gasoline-powered STI.

Source: Autoexpress