We also need to get the manufacturers to stand behind something more than B5.

But where does the Leninism come in??? :confused: :D

Deep Six "The Big Three"
 

They're Too much of an Impediment to ANY kind of Rational Transportation
Solution(S).
[Also,too many of their sticky little fingers(Read Lobbyist) in the Legislative Pie]

Clean Air,Fuel Economy,Automotive Safety are all four letter words to Detroit!

Diesel Electric Hybrids are the only rational solution.
('Can't have that in America...Detroit refuses to produce automotive "D"s)
I love the Electric Drive Motor for EACH Wheel proposition...as stated
No Transmission...And you can have the Diesel run much CLEANER than any
other fuel. (AND it's renewable, "Bio D")
Think:Canadian Pacific,Norfolk Southern,CSX,Union Pacific,Florida East Coast,
Etc.

There's no urea injection on the new TDI Jetta. Apparently it's not needed on the smaller engines.

You're certainly not the first one to think of this and some of the car makers have already given it a thought if not a try. But the main obstacle appears to be the production cost. Diesel typically carries a price premium, and so does a hybrid/battery system. I'm sure it can be made, but probably not for profit at this time, especially given the weak economy and cheap fuel.

It really isn't needed on any diesel engine ;)

Although, from what I have read, which isn't much mind you, it doesn't sound like it's that much of a burden to have...not as bad as the trap ox fiasco of the 80s, for example.

Shouldn't be too hard to disable. It won't take long before there are programmers to disable it's sensors/operation.

Another option is the ottodiesel. The gas engine with the diesel compression cycle. From my understanding it would need the heavier block of a diesel engine and head. Presently gas is a lot cheaper. I don't know if its mileage would be as good as a diesel. Its emmisions equipment cost should be less than future diesel engines.
How much price difference is there over seas in the cost per liter between Gas and Diesel? It is roughly $0.60 to over a $1 here. THere are various reasons, but the main one is no new refineries in the past 20 years. It does make it hard to justify a diesel with the added initial cost of a diesel engine.
I think electrics have a niche market, maybe a large percentage if the battery or electric storeage problem is addressed. The Chevy Volt is a good concept, but $40K is a bit much. If and when this technology get down to the $20K to $30K range, then it would be a viable option for the mainstream. I see pure electrics for city and city fleet. Not from a performance perspective, but a charge and range aspect. Also emmisions.
Diesels more for highway, shipping and hauling. Although the efficiency of gas engines have gone up, I don't know if simular work has een done on diesel engines.
I think this is the more disturbing article on that site:

Lutz defends decision to tap Korean battery maker over U.S. firm

General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz today defended the decision to choose Korean battery maker LG Chem over Massachusetts-based A123 to supply the plug-in electric dual mode Chevrolet Volt in the wake of the decision by the U.S. Treasury to loan GM $13.4 billion in taxpayer funds. GM plans to start producing the Volt late next year.
"I dare say if you look at the defense procurement budget, they probably procure a lot of stuff in China and Korea and Japan too in the electronics area," said Lutz, who is head of global product development. "That's just the reality of today's world. It is part of the penalty we pay in the United States for not having a well-enough funded basic R&D effort like in other countries. LG Chem has been benefitting from massive Korean government support in R&D and Korean universities. You should see their R&D campus. It looks like a university. It was all paid for by the Korean government. ... With that kind of massive national effort and we have none, it's small wonder that an offshore firm had more experience, more technology at this point in time than an American company."
Congress is considering adding $1 billion in battery research funding to an $800 billion stimulus package, with a vote expected next month.
A123 announced last week plans to build a battery factory in Michigan. It's received $10 million in state funding, but sought $1.8 billion in federal loans from the $25 billion Energy Department retooling program.
Lutz said the massive effort announced by GM today -- including building a plant in Michigan to assemble the battery packs for the Volt and building a 31,000-square-foot battery laboratory -- demonstrated the company's committment to moving away from traditional gas engines.
"When you put it all together, it is a massive reorientation of GM away from the internal combustion engine and toward the future, which is the electrification of the vehicle," Lutz said.

Tom

Then might as well use the real deal, diesel.

As stated in my original post, the cost of smog or emmisions control components will probably be cheaper for the ottodiesel engine. We're not taking a few dollars either. At least from what I hear. So it has a price advantage over the diesel for initial cost. Will it deliver the claimed milage or not? I haven't looked at it much.
Tom

x2 on that one.

I don't trust anything Bob Lutz does / decides/ approves.

Minues the whole lack of production issue, why not just use biodiesel instead of all this emissions crap? I mean really..
I know that there are still some emissions when using it, but it is greatly reduced.
Are newer diesels not supposed to use more than B5 because of the IP or because of the emissions? If the latter, that sounds quite counterproductive, if you ask me.:mad:

I haven't heard that newer diesels are suppose to use B5. I think they are allowed to use up to B5 and covered under warranty. I think Cummins has rated some of their engines for B15.
Tom

Mercedes is the one doing diesotto.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiesOtto

Mahindra diesel hybrid scheduled for '10. I'll take some curry w/that!
http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2008/02/mahindra-diesel-hybrid-pickup-to-usa-by-2010.html

Mahindra (And every other Indian brand) is worse than Korean! They must overbuild everything just to make up for the lack of material quality.