Mazda 2

If VW never brings the Polo to the US, I could be consoled with a Mazda 2.

And with diesel? Sweet!

VW Dieselution

Volkswagen of America, Inc. is launching the Dieselution Tour, a mobile marketing exhibit, to educate the media and the public on advances in clean diesel technology and alternative fuels.

[...]

The Dieselution Tour will also feature the 2009 Jetta TDI, Volkswagen’s new, 50-state clean diesel offering. The vehicle is scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. in spring of 2008. Also on display, a 3.0-liter V6 TDI Touareg, the Polo Blue Motion and the oldest Volkswagen diesel in America, a 1977 Rabbit. (VW Vortex)

What a bunch of teases. They won't sell the Polo in the US but they'll display it? Pffft.

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UPDATE

Oh, since everyone knows I'm into carbon offsets, I suppose I should include this.

Signifying Volkswagen’s environmental concern, the Dieselution Tour will be certified as CarbonFree by Carbonfund.org. Volkswagen and Carbonfund.org recently announced a partnership to offset one year of carbon emission from each new Volkswagen sold in the U.S. from September, 2007 through January 2, 2008. In return, Volkswagen is working with Carbonfund.org to reforest land in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) in northern Louisiana, a wetland ecosystem that had been largely converted to farmland.

Ah well. I guess, whatever one thinks about purchasing carbon offsets, reforesting land is not a bad thing.

Oldest VW diesel

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced that, as part of its diesel heritage search, it has located the oldest operating Volkswagen diesel vehicle in America, a 1977 Rabbit owned by Clint Wilson of Tehachapi, Calif.

[...]

In recognition [...], Volkswagen has provided Wilson with a new Touareg V10 TDI to drive for six-months. (VW Vortex)

Wow, that'll be a change. 50 horsepower to 310? Granted, the Touareg is a wee bit heavier, but still.

Hybrids wane, diesels gain

the number of customers considering buying a hybrid has declined over the past year, partly due to a realization of the actual mileage that hybrid cars are likely to achieve. [...] J.D. Power also attributes the drop in hybrid interest to an increase in the number of clean diesel vehicles; the study found that the number of new car buyers considering a diesel had nearly doubled over the past year.

With fleets of new diesel cars bound for the U.S. over the next few years and the demise of some hybrid models, is this the beginning of a gear-change in the alternative-fuel economy? (Crave)

One's gotta hope! I think hybrids are fine, but the enthusiasm given to ethanol ("flex-fuel") vehicles at the expensive of infinitely more flexible and efficient diesel automobiles here in America has been an absolute crime.

Cleaner diesel is here

Just wanted to make a man-on-the-street report that I had my first encounter with ultra-low sulfur diesel this week, filling up my TDI's tank on a road trip to Santa Fe. As I noted before, this only means about 10% cleaner emissions for us current diesels, but newer diesels will be able to reduce emissions 90-some percent.

I did hear that current diesels could be retrofitted to have the same reduction. If anyone knows the specifics of retrofitting a VW, let me know!

The Smart is go

The Wall Street Journal thinks that DaimlerChrysler is going to announce this week that Smarts will be available for sale in the US in 2007.

It will be sold in major metropolitan centers on the East and West coasts where sales of small, imported cars are strongest.

No word on whether the diesel version, which is sold in Canada, will be available here. I want a subcompact diesel.

Update #1:

DaimlerChrysler, which shelved an earlier plan to bring its Smart minicar brand to the United States, plans to announce Wednesday that it will introduce the tiny two-seat vehicle to the American market early in 2008

[...]

DaimlerChrysler plans to aim the Smart at drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities.

[...]

The DaimlerChrysler executive, however, did not disclose the car's fuel efficiency. On its Web site in Britain, a Smart coupe is listed as getting 46 miles a gallon in the city and 69 miles a gallon on the highway.

DaimlerChrysler offers a diesel engine in Europe, but it will offer only a gasoline engine in the United States. (NY Times)

Ultra-low sulfur diesel

Last Thursday, June 1, was the first step towards having cleaner diesel in the US. ULSD is now hitting the refineries and should be available to consumers in October. While current diesel engines will see a reduction in emissions (10%?), the real gain, a 90% reduction in emissions, will come when the next generation of diesel engines become available in the US.

It's about time that the US became serious about cleaner diesel. Why has it taken so long? The trucking industry. They wanted cheaper diesel. Well, I want a diesel that doesn't spew soot in the air and is a viable, more efficient alternative to gasoline. So there!

In the meantime, we may see less diesel cars available. VW is dropping its TDIs until 2008. And Chrysler has just announced that it is dropping the Jeep Liberty diesel. But expect to see a lot more diesel cars made available once our diesel matches Europe's. Car companies have known for a while how to make cleaner diesel engines, they've not been able to implement them in the US due to our dirty diesel.

Toyota Aygo

Are you impressed with hybrid vehicles that get 40-50 mpg (US)? How about a diesel that gets upwards of 75 mpg?

Diesel registrations up

According to the Diesel Technology Forum, the number of light-duty diesel vehicle registrations grew by 31 percent last year, and as we know, like hybrids, diesels offer fuel economy that is 20 to 40 percent better than gasoline-only vehicles.

The DTF quoted an EPA study stating that if one-third of U.S. light duty vehicles were diesel, we would save up to 1.4 million barrels of oil per day, or the amount that we currently import from Saudi Arabia.

Autopia

Polo BlueMotion

[Volkswagen] is going to show another world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show: the VW Polo BlueMotion which is titled as the most economical VW Polo ever. The VW Polo BlueMotion has a 1.4 liter diesel engine with a standard-equipped particulate filter, delivering 80 bhp and a torque of 196 Nm and uses less than 4 liters per 100 km. (German Car Blog

That's about 60 miles/gallon (US).

BLUETEC diesels

Also at the Detroit auto show, Mercedes announced its upcoming BLUETEC diesels. In the US come Fall 2006.