This should even piss off EPA supporters...

[whunter]

VW Passat 78.5 MPG (Imperial gallon) 65.2 MPG US...

[Dudesky]

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/efficiency-and-bluemotion-technologies

[Dee8go]

Ah, it's all starting to make sense now . . .

Of course, I don't know why they can't come up with another way to tax fuel, cars, etc. to get the money to keep up the highways. Congress doesn't seem to have any problem creating more taxes. Wouldn't that be a pisser! instead of a Gas Guzzler tax, they could create a "Fuel Sipper Tax . . . "

[Yak]

A less anti-road-tax/conspiracy theory perspective:

The reason that you don’t see more diesels on US roads has to do with economics. Money makes the world go ’round, and as you’d expect, it’s the main reason for our “diesel deficiency”. In the United States, the federal government taxes every gallon of fuel sold. And historically, there’s always been a higher demand for gasoline here. So, our tax system is biased toward gasoline, making it cheaper to buy than diesel.

It’s the exact opposite in Europe. Diesel is cheaper to buy than “petrol”. However, cheaper means $6-7 per gallon, vs. $7-8 for a gallon of gas, so you can see why there’s more diesels over there.

European automakers simply responded to market demands, and came up with a wide range of diesel vehicles, allowing them to produce diesel engines at a lower cost. (For those who want to see what they’re missing right now, or plan a rental for their next European vacation, there are plenty of detailed reviews of current European models.)

In this country, gas is still (relatively) cheap. So a popular choice for an efficient vehicle is the hybrid. You may have noticed just how many hybrid models are available today. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the sporty Honda CR-Z to the massive Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid.



Diesel vehicles, however, still don’t make good business sense, like the hybrid. You’re asking the customer to pay an additional $5-7k for a diesel vehicle, then you’re asking them to fuel it with the most expensive fuel.
From an environmental standpoint, modern diesel engines emit a very low amount of NOx and CO2, and recent advances have made them much more efficient. and they top hybrids in the fact that certain materials used to produce various components on a hybrid have to be mined. When considering a green car, can you imagine the relative environmental impact of that nickel mine needed for the hybrid? Let alone the fact that all those hybrid battery packs may one day wind up in a landfill.

But back to the economics of diesels...

Subaru Diesel Cars: Why You Can’t Buy One in the USA

And the cost of the urea to meet emissions while getting high MPG? http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/01/mercedesbenz-gl320-bluetecfeeling-a-bit-adblue-over-spending-a-lot-of-green.html

But let’s extrapolate the AdBlue budget. At the current rate and cost of consumption, just the AdBlue itself (without the labor, which would probably be included as part of the routine service) would cost $1,457.80 for 100,000 miles of driving. That’s a lot of money, knocking about a third off of your fuel savings vs. buying a GL450 V8. (You can’t buy a gasoline-powered V6 GL).

So maybe the online guy who claims the "current administration" wants to protect the "tax base" doesn't have his facts quite right. Maybe the manufacturers simply don't want to pay the certification to bring a boutique car that won't sell in adequate numbers to justify the investment in logistics, training, advertising, etc.

[Yak]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

Ah, it's all starting to make sense now . . .

Of course, I don't know why they can't come up with another way to tax fuel, cars, etc. to get the money to keep up the highways. Congress doesn't seem to have any problem creating more taxes. Wouldn't that be a pisser! instead of a Gas Guzzler tax, they could create a "Fuel Sipper Tax . . . "

There's already discussion about that. Since MPG standards are going up, tax revenue per mile driven is going down. Wear and tear on the roads doesn't decrease though, so it's got to be paid for somehow. Different states are considering variable "registration fees" based on miles driven. This basically makes all roads toll roads. Of course, since it'll be considered a "fee" the politicians can claim they won't raise taxes.

Since most states have balanced budget requirements, I'd look for the states to start this first, not Congress.

[zakats]

everybody put on your foil hats

[compu_85]

Old thread

FWIW, our 2012 Passat TDI, with an automatic transmission and driving around in DC traffic, is averaging 50MPG! (UK MPG like the guy in the video is talking about). That's just under 42 US MPG. Over the first 10,000 miles it used 2.5 gallons of Urea.

-J

[Dee8go]

It's very impressive to see what we can come up with when we put our minds to it. There's so much that goes on in Washington that we never hear about, good ideas that weren't liked by the right lobbies . . .