Why not a diesel/electric. The diesel powered alternator only starts at the request of the battery monitor and then runs at it's most efficient RPM. The driver would have no control over this charging unit. The car is driven by inboard mounted wheel motors. ( flick a switch for 4 wheel drive )
but all 4 will regenerate when your foot comes completely off the throttle pedal. The wheel motor concept eliminates the expensive differential gear sets.
This would be a good tapering off vehicle. You got your diesel (to keep us happy) and an electric car to keep the environmentalists happy.
The little three banger in the Smart car will turn one hell of an alternator.
Comments please.

__________________
1984 300SD turbo 126
"My true love"

God made me an atheist and who am I to question His wisdom

Diesel is dead in this country until diesel fuel comes down in price a bit.

I have been buying RUG for $1.59-$1.70 a gallon. The cheapest diesel is AT LEAST $1 more per gallon than that.

When I first got my SDL diesel was $.20 cents cheaper per gallon than RUG.


As much as I hate the VW Golf, I love the 27.5mpg I am getting on old spark plugs around town, and I love filling the tank with a $20 and having enough change left over to buy some soda's. I need the better part of three $20's to fill the SDL's tank...

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have been saying this for a long time. My vision has one electric traction motor per axle running through a differential, but I like your idea of 4 motors. I also would get rid of the battery and have the diesel alternator unit just run the motors. I would have a capacitor setup to give extra power when needed. The idea is to run the diesel at its most efficient speed and never vary it.


VW is making a big push for its 'Clean Diesel' Jetta TDIe Does this engine have the same urea injection as the MB or do they clean it up in another way?

The best thing we could do is get more BioD production going. It burns cleaner than dinoD and is renewable...

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

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

But where does the Leninism come in???

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

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.

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

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

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

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.

__________________
Dan
2005 E320 CDI - 246k
1987 300SDL TD05-16g, Herlevi pump, Elbe manifold, 2.47 LSD - 213k
Past: 1987 300D - 264k

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.

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.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL