A new study by MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics has shown that by adopting electrically propelled vehicles, regional transportation fleets could potentially realize operational cost savings of 9 to 12 percent over diesel trucks.
Researchers based their “model costs” on a fleet of 250 trucks operated by office supplier Staples, and the utility company ISO New England. Data was collected using scenarios in which these vehicles relied on one of three different power sources: electric, gas/electric hybrid and diesel.
Racing improves the breed, or so the old saying goes, yet in Audi’s case it certainly rings true. Following on from victories at Le Mans with TFSI technology (2001) and then the first ever diesel powered sports endurance racer (2006), the Ingolstadt automaker is attempting to go one better this year with a diesel hybrid prototype.
The car, which should prove a worthy rival for Toyota’s gasoline hybrid, the TS030, is seen as a logical step, especially considering Audi Sport’s experience with oil-burning technology.
According to Audi’s head of motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, the concept of combining diesel and hybrid technology “is at least as ambitious and challenging as our [pure] diesel project was in its early stages.”
January sales always drop significantly from the prior year-ending month and this time around it was no different.
Generally, December sales are very high as year-end sales are in place. This rule of thumb applying to vehicles in general is also true for hybrid, plug-in, and diesel vehicles.
While overall sales in January were at a strong rate (over 14 million at an annual rate based on seasonal adjustment factors), the actual number of sales was down 27 percent from December 2011. Hybrid sales were down a similar rate, at 30 percent and plug in sales were down 48 percent (although the low volume of these sales makes the comparison less meaningful). Diesel sales dropped less, at 22 percent, than the overall market or the hybrids or plug ins.
In a unanimous ruling Friday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) called for a steep ramping up of zero- or very low-emission vehicles sold in state from 2018-onward. The goal is for them to comprise 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold by 2025 – up from less than 1 percent today.
At the same time, the ruling called for a slashing of tailpipe emissions from the rest of the passenger vehicle population beginning sooner in 2015 and extending through 2025.
In Detroit on Tuesday some strong arguments were heard either in support of or against the proposed 2017-2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and the auto industry is split on the issue.
The hearing will be followed by two more this month, and these are required by federal government regulators prior to finalizing fuel economy standards by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency later this year that would mandate a fleet average of 54.5 miles per gallon (about 40 mpg on sticker) by 2025.
The proposed rules are poised to amend standards already set to rise to 37.5 mpg by 2016, and among automakers who’ve spoken in favor of stricter rule include General Motors, Toyota and Hyundai, while others are against, including Volkswagen and Daimler.
Hybrid sales for December 2011 were at their highest since March, which was the last month before the Japanese earthquake/tsunami affected product availability.
Prius volumes in December were also at their highest since March – augmented in that now Toyota is including new members of the Prius family under a single category – and were also higher than all other months since August 2009.
The availability of the larger Prius v and the forthcoming Prius c will certainly lead to higher volumes.
Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne says he's still not positively disposed toward hybrids, but the company will be forced to begin producing them to meet 2025 emission mandates.
"I have no other way of getting to 2025 [CAFE] numbers than by going to hybrids," he told Automotive News of sales to the North American market.
What’s wrong with hybrids in Marchionne’s estimation? They’re relatively expensive to produce and he said he is skeptical whether they would not only sell in low volume, so it would be a losing proposition.
With the debut of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI in 2008 and subsequent releases from Mercedes, BMW and Audi, diesel's fortunes in the United States are beginning to change.
Flanked by executives from most of the major automakers, as well as union officials and other environmental stakeholders, on Friday President Obama announced the compromise settled on for federal fuel efficiency standards for 2017-2025.
Subject to final approval, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) for vehicles weighing less than 6,000 pounds sold in the U.S. is to be 54.5 mpg. Because the government calculates the number differently, this will equate to about 40 mpg on vehicle window stickers.
Chevrolet confirmed that it would in fact be selling its first diesel-powered car in the United States in more than two decades.
