The US is a strange place - all those gas guzzling cars that sell like hot cakes (although not so much now) and yet a super clean Bluetec diesel from Mercedes is to dirty to sell in certain of the US states.
>>Mercedes-Benz's much trumpeted E320 Bluetec diesel has failed to meet the emissions standards required for sale in green-minded California and four other states in the USA. Mercedes had hoped that Bluetec technology would establish the brand as a maker of clean, low-emissions diesels as the US market slowly turns towards higher-economy vehicles, but potential buyers in wealthy Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont, as well as highly pollution-conscious California, won't be able to buy that version of the E-Class. <<
My view on this is that they are probably correct providing they also tackle the extra CO2 pumped out by the petrol cars. I think CO2 is easier to deal with than treating the Nox and other cancer causing rubbish that diesels pump out.
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It's to protect their own bankrupt car industry while they play catchup - 'shall we make a decent diesel?'
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My brother bought the VW Beetle when they first came out as a diesel in CA. For a long time since new diesel car's in CA are illegal to sell!! He likes diesel so has kept the Bug.
I think things are going to change soon with the cleaner diesels.
Weird thing is his car before the Bug was a Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.2l V8. You could still get the equivalent to that now but not say a BMW 535d. Go figure.
Rob
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It's to protect their own bankrupt car industry while they play catchup - 'shall we make a decent diesel?'
All US car makers have access to contemporary diesel technology via their subsidiary / parent companies. I would have though the kind of person who buys a 6.1 litre 300C or Grand Cherokee would be most impress with a 5 ltr V8 producing over 350 bhp and 700 lbs torque.
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on the American car forum that I regularly post on, they would love to have access to a 300C CRD taht gives all of the real worlf perforamnce of a hemi with less than half of the fuel consumption, but diesel cars in America have a really bad image.
as well as that, the diesel that is currently on sale in America is not refined enough for modern eurpoean diesel engines to run on - this will change in the future when new regulations come in that will clean up diesel fuel in America dramatically.
MTC
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>>It's to protect their own bankrupt car industry while they play catchup
I see. so, for example, Chrysler would need protection from Mercedes ? How would that work ?
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It's to protect their own bankrupt car industry while they play catchup - 'shall we make a decent diesel?'
Absolutely, they are stupid and backward when it comes to cars, no-one can tell me that an ultra high-tec 3.2 diesel chucks out more of anything seriously polluting than their 5/6/7 litre V8 petrol leviathons.
Nor would I say that a 6 cyl state of the art diesel is less refined than same.
It si true that American diesel is of very poor quality ie Ketane rating etc, but the American car industry and oil industry is very protectionist. There is evidence of a core of bright and sensible Americans who can see the benefits of the latest diesel cars, but at the moment their views are a bit stiffled. I guess the genral car-driving US population has no chance to experience some of the great diesel cars now available.
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Absolutely, they are stupid and backward when it comes to cars,
These are my thoughts as well.
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"a super clean Bluetec diesel from Mercedes is too dirty"
It ain't 'super clean' then, surely? Clean for a diesel, perhaps...
I imagine that Americans' dislike of diesels is more to do with smoothness and quietness (lack of). Those big, understressed petrol V8's are hard to match.
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"I see. so, for example, Chrysler would need protection from Mercedes ? How would that work ?"
Well, we're only talking 6-9 months here aren't we! You can't just pop any old diesel in any model you know, you would need a year or so of hard work. Diesels from VW and Mercedes and then the Japs started to become very popular in the states, these are what a lot of people wanted and they didn't make many themselves. Anyway, the latest cockup story is that they will be able to sell older models afterall because the ULSD for the new ones with particulate filters is in too short a supply!
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Intersting positive perception of diesel on US website weather.com, E320CDi featured.
www.weather.com/outlook/driving/greenvehicle/resul...8
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