TDI and 2006 Diesel Regulations

There is *ZERO* chance that they would introduce a different formulation that would not work with existing diesel engines. The issue is that manufacturers may introduce new diesel engines that require cleaner fuel, and won't work with existing "dirty" fuel.

All of the foot dragging and whining reminds me of when they banned lead as an additive in gasoline back in the 70s. People made all kinds of trumped up claims about how bad it was going to be, but in the end it resulted in less emissions and not much else.

The only reason to wait is because you think VW will introduce all kinds of new high performance diesels in North America as soon as the cleaner fuel is widely available and you want one of those. I think you should plan for that for the car after the one you are considering now.

The new fuel will be essentially the same as that now available in the rest of the world. Today's cars will have no problem with it and will burn a little cleaner. The new engines now available in other countries will then be available in the US. You can bet there will be a temporary spike in prices but it will be short lives with prices settling back down very close to what they are now. I would not be surprised if the petrol companies create an artificial shortage as well, they are very good at those kind of things. Their dirty tricks is one reason we don't have the fuel yet.

No new technology is required it is well known and tested in the rest of the world.

The new fuel will be "cleaner" than the existing fuel and will work fine in current VW TDI's. The current "dirty" (high sulphur) fuel sold in the U.S. won't work in the higher tech diesels sold in Europe.

I seriously doubt that there will be a supply problem, since any supply problem would also affect operators of 18 wheelers, railroad locomotives, etc., and the "powers that be" won't allow that to happen.

Actually, it will be split for many years, whith the cleaner stuff going to consumers at a higher price(nothing new is ever LESS expensive in this country, afterall), which the dirtier stuff is kept for trains and heavy machinery. Note - Semis and trucking will be running the cleaner stuff as well, which will make huge improvements in air quality almost overnight.

Hopefully this means that CA and the NE states that indirectly ban diesels through emissions regulations will eventually get this fuel and the new engines too.

This is part of the plan, actually. Only the emissions are a factor in diesels not being sold in CA, so once it is clean enough, expect TDIs to be big sellers.

Hell, anything that gets close to 40mpg in real driving and isn't a total tin can like a Metro or Echo will be a big seller. There's a lot of pent-up demand. Just witness the insanity of the Pruis, which averages about 40-45mpg in real driving - only a bit better than the TDI Jetta/Bug.

Joseph Oberlander wrote: ...

I get mid 40's in the city and mid 50's on the road in my NB TDI

The average is only a bit lower - maybe 2-3 mpg compared to the Prius. No fancy batteries or compromises, which makes you wonder what they could really do with a tiny TDI hydrid. 100mpg should be a snap to achieve. If they really wanted to, that is.

I got an average of 47mpg over the 30K miles I had my Golf TDI. High of 56, low of 42 (towing a trailer). And having driven a current model Prius, there is simply no comparison as to which is nicer to drive or ride in.

Kevin Rhodes Westbrook, Maine

Heh - well, that's the kicker. Geo Metro efficiency in a normal sized, well handling car that you can push-start if the battery goes dead(Pruis is a brick if the aux battery dies). :)

I'm SO going to get one in a year.

I recently had a service call in a Big (hint) oil companies transport terminal in Columbus, Ohio. While I was there a truck came in for a load of "special" diesel fuel. Being a TDI owner I asked. It was going to a transit company in one of the Carolinas and I was told it was basically low sulpher kerosene with addatives. Seems there's no place nearer that has it available. It's about 500 or so miles to the Carolinas from here!