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#1
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Where are the diesels?
Hi,
After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars no longer have compeling economics. Best, Mike. |
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#2
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Where are the diesels?
hobbes > wrote in article >... > Where I am in New York, diesel > fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. > > Petrol??? What part of New York are you in? |
#3
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Where are the diesels?
On Mar 7, 6:43 am, hobbes > wrote:
> Hi, > > After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the > number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is > happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel > fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. > > So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost > of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars > no longer have compeling economics. > > Best, Mike. The latest Car and Driver (April) has an interesting column by CC. He runs through some of the advantages and disadvantages from an economic viewpoint, based on rising prices of Diesel fuel. One thing he did not discuss is biodiesel. I seem to have a vague recollection that some people claim it is easier to make biodiesel than biogasoline. Is this correct? How much of a problem is making biodiesel? |
#4
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Where are the diesels?
In article >, Don Stauffer in Minnesota wrote:
> On Mar 7, 6:43 am, hobbes > wrote: >> Hi, >> >> After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the >> number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is >> happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel >> fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. >> >> So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost >> of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars >> no longer have compeling economics. >> >> Best, Mike. > > The latest Car and Driver (April) has an interesting column by CC. He > runs through some of the advantages and disadvantages from an economic > viewpoint, based on rising prices of Diesel fuel. > > One thing he did not discuss is biodiesel. I seem to have a vague > recollection that some people claim it is easier to make biodiesel > than biogasoline. Is this correct? How much of a problem is making > biodiesel? Depends on how tolerant your vehicle is, but basically you run used cooking oil from the fryer through a filter to strain out the solids and you have bio-diesel. I suppose you could avoid the filter by using new clean veggie oils. (but at that point I think the cost savings and then some is lost) Now how easy is it to make your veggie oil? I have no idea, but I believe it's fairly labor intensive without specialized machines. homemade biodiesel is and will be great until it reaches a saturation point of people doing it. At that point, used fry oil is going to start costing money. The resturants which enjoyed someone just taking it away for no cost will have people offering them money to take it once the demand for the used cooking oil goes up. |
#5
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Where are the diesels?
Don Stauffer in Minnesota wrote:
> On Mar 7, 6:43 am, hobbes > wrote: >> Hi, >> >> After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the >> number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is >> happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel >> fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. >> >> So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost >> of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars >> no longer have compeling economics. >> >> Best, Mike. > > The latest Car and Driver (April) has an interesting column by CC. He > runs through some of the advantages and disadvantages from an economic > viewpoint, based on rising prices of Diesel fuel. > > One thing he did not discuss is biodiesel. I seem to have a vague > recollection that some people claim it is easier to make biodiesel > than biogasoline. Is this correct? How much of a problem is making > biodiesel? Well, the Mythbusters TV show poured straight left over french fry cooking oil into a Benz and it ran perfect on a test track oval. I think it got something like 2 mpg less than pump diesel. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos: http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfly.com |
#6
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Where are the diesels?
A friend has a VW Jetta diesel. He says he gets 42 mpg city, 46 mpg
highway. Unlike the old diesel cars: it doesn't smoke, it doesn't smell, and its not noisy. I was impressed. I recall the 80s Mercedes with diesels. They smoked, they smelled bad, noisy, and the back of the car was black with diesel smoke residue. The diesel Jetta does none of that. Finding a station that sells diesel can be a challenge. |
#7
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Where are the diesels?
"Beth W" > wrote in message ... >A friend has a VW Jetta diesel. He says he gets 42 mpg city, 46 mpg > highway. Unlike the old diesel cars: it doesn't smoke, it doesn't > smell, and its not noisy. > I was impressed. > > I recall the 80s Mercedes with diesels. They smoked, they smelled bad, > noisy, and the back of the car was black with diesel smoke residue. The > diesel Jetta does none of that. > > Finding a station that sells diesel can be a challenge. Indeed, the newer (European) diesels work very well and dont have that "pine knot burner". Reputation. I hope they find their way here soon. Diesel is easy to find here in Texas. Not cheap, but available. The biodiesel situation is not clearly defined. You can burn waste vegetable oil in many diesels after it has been cleaned up a bit. I have some long term concerns about continued availability of food oil wastes, and about the use of them in auto systems. You can also run into a nasty situation with the tax authorities if you dont pay tax on this "fuel". You can make better fuels by converting the fattyacid triglycerides into methyl esters, ethyl esters, or other. That conversion is relatively easy, chemically, but you will lose 15-20% of the volume of oil when the glycerol precipitates out of solution. And then, what do you do with it? |
#8
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Where are the diesels?
On Mar 7, 7:43*am, hobbes > wrote:
> Hi, > > After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the > number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is > happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel > fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. > > So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost > of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars > no longer have compeling economics. > > Best, Mike. In the USA diesel automobiles have really never had a legal cost advantage over comparable gasoline powered models. Initial cost of a diesel is higher, maintenance costs are a bit higher, fuel is priced well above regular and usually above premium gasoline, etc. |
#9
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Where are the diesels?
"John S." > wrote in message ... On Mar 7, 7:43 am, hobbes > wrote: > Hi, > > After much media coverage that diesels were coming real soon now, the > number of available diesels are not that many. My hunch on why this is > happening is the price of diesel fuel. Where I am in New York, diesel > fuel is priced above Regular Petrol grade by about 60 cents. > > So all the cost savings in better MPG may well be offset by the cost > of fuel and the more expensive engine purchase price. Diesel for cars > no longer have compeling economics. > > Best, Mike. In the USA diesel automobiles have really never had a legal cost advantage over comparable gasoline powered models. Initial cost of a diesel is higher, maintenance costs are a bit higher, fuel is priced well above regular and usually above premium gasoline, etc. The USA is a bit of a special situation.. Diesel is higher here than gasoline but it isnt that way all over the world... I dont know that maintenance of a diesel is substantially higher than that of a gasoline engine. It is not in the European small diesels I have had experience with. And the cost of building a diesel is not substantially more expensive either, I would guess, if diesel autos are built in quantity. Yes, there are differences, but I dont believe them to be substantial differences. |
#10
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Where are the diesels?
Don Stauffer in Minnesota wrote:
> One thing he did not discuss is biodiesel. I seem to have a vague > recollection that some people claim it is easier to make biodiesel > than biogasoline. Is this correct? How much of a problem is making > biodiesel? "Biodiesel" is basically just vegetable oil. So yeah, its a heck of a lot more practical than brewing ethanol to blend with gasoline, whch is the only thing so far that approaches "biogasoline." Its also much better on the energy balance, as ethanol takes as much (some say more, some say a little less) energy to make than you get back when you burn it. Methanol is working in Brazil where they're on the equator, have a tropical growth environment, year-round growing season, and can use sugar cane as the base stock for ethanol. Ethanol will never work at a positive energy balance in North America. Its just a load of subsidized feel-good BS. But biodiesel- THAT might work fairly well. |
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