Biodiesel versus hybrids: TDI versus Prius
AutoWeek has crowned the Volkswagen Jetta TDI - when fueled by biodiesel - as the high mileage king of the road. The Toyota Prius came in second.Read the Full AutoWeek Story
Biodiesel versus hybrid
Anyone that regularly reads AutoWeek knows that the magazine is smitten towards performance vehicles and that many of their editorial staff have much angst towards hybrid cars. So, how reliable is AutoWeek?
In terms of testing the vehicles, there are some interesting notes.
Regarding the Prius, AW reports, "Part of the shortfall [mpg] was due to the pace we maintained. At a more hybrid-friendly 55 to 65 mph, the dazzling dashboard display showed numbers closer to 50 mpg". Thus, it appears the drivers wanted to play with the capabilities of the hybrid technology and were not seeking purely the best fuel economy.
On the other hand, regarding the TDI, "As it was, we just drove gently, stayed with the caravan and employed the manual mode on the six-speed automatic transmission when it seemed useful." Unlike the Prius, it seems the focus of the TDI test was purely to achieve the best fuel economy.
More important; however, is the whole premise of the test.
The '60's are over and cruising on the highway is no longer the American norm. According to every modern transportation study, congestion hasn't only become the norm, congestion is consistently becoming, well, more congested. In today's world and the world of tomorrow, highway driving simply isn't the standard. Even worse, highway fuel economy estimates offer the perception that America's fuel consumption isn't as bad as reality.
Other reviews of the TDI Diesel report mileage drops of well below 40 mpg when just a little urban driving is added to mostly highway miles. So what does it achieve in daily congestion? In these conditions - the conditions of the future - the Prius is the king without any question.
Nonetheless, with today's technology and limited 'green' choices, both the TDI and the Prius are excellent vehicles, especially if you can fuel the TDI with biodiesel. Moreover, if you drive mostly highway miles, then a biodiesel TDI might be your best option.
On the other hand, if you live in an urban area, then the Prius is your best choice.
Ultimately, AutoWeek does make one great point. "Imagine a Prius-like hybrid that ran on biodiesel instead of gasoline. We may not be there yet, and adapting diesels to use the cylinder-cutoff technology found in the Jeep and Honda might be a tough task, but look how far we've come already."
Still, considering America's foreign oil dependency, look how far we have yet to go.
Labels: clean diesel, foreign oil dependency, hybrid cars, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns @ 11:11 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
your wrong about your TDI milage. my wifes 06 doesnt get less than 500 in a tank. the least shes got is 38 mpg all city and most of the time it averages 45 and up to 49.9 on the freeway. Plus diesel is now .16 cents a gallon cheaper where we live. Secondly you only have to change the oil every 10,000 miles per the owners manual (all mercedes volks wagon spec) and there are now batteries to worry about dying except the $50 car battery. The 08 jetta diesel will average 45 mpg and get 60 mpg on the highway. some diesels in europe get 90 mpg check out the lupo. So hybrids are just overrated. why do you think europe is 50-60% diesel with almost no hybrids and they have 7.00 a gallon gas. I think they know more about gas milage than we Americans. Cheers Damien
Not my mileage.
In LA, where I live, diesel is more expensive most of the time and if it were made into clean diesel it would be even far more expensive.
As for 90 mpg vehicles in Europe, I've never heard of one, and it's probably some kind of conversion error.
Hybrids are gaining in Europe and are expected to gain ground in the future. Moreover, there is nothing limiting hybrid vehicles to gasoline. Hybrids can also become diesel hybrids and European companies such as Peugeot are already working on prototypes. Many companies believe that if global warming doesn't suddenly slow, diesel hybrids will take over Europe in the future.
In addition Mercedes will be launching its first hybrids next year.
Once several million hybrids are sold world wide the technology will become much cheaper and a diesel hybrid will be more cost-effective than conventional diesels, especially once lithium starts powering hybrids.
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