January 03, 2005
| Comparing
Diesel and Hybrid Cars
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For a couple of months,
DaimlerChrysler has been trying to build buzz around its newest
Jeep Liberty, a diesel version.
Earlier this month, Chrysler began shipping the new model to
dealers in an attempt to gauge consumer interest.
There hasn't been much. Of course, Daimler isn't trying that
hard to market the car yet, only the idea of diesel. Daimler
believes that the better fuel efficiency offered by diesels will
lure American buyers to diesel.
Many states, including California and New York; however, will
not allow diesels to be sold in their states because diesels
still emit pollutants that are known to be smog-producing and
carcinogenic. Perhaps
those laws could change, but why?
Advanced gasoline engines are 10
percent less efficient than diesels, but they pollute less. That
balance equals out in my book.
Hybrids versus diesels
Some analysts have gone so far as to say that hybrid vehicles,
such as the Toyota
Prius, Honda
Accord Hybrid, and Ford
Escape hybrid, are too expensive, and that diesels should be
the powertrain of choice until hydrogen takes over.
Yet, these same diesels, as well as advanced gasoline engines
can each be integrated with a hybrid powertrain. Each of these
hybrid combinations would create significantly more efficient
vehicles than either diesel or advanced gasoline engines.
The hybrid powertrain is simply more effective and efficient
than simple internal combustion powered vehicles. With endless
combinations, including hydrogen and fuel cells, hybrid
vehicles can drive us into the future, creating and
perfecting the necessary automotive technologies to make the
hydrogen economy a reality.
More importantly, hybrids allow consumers the ability to make a
choice, an important financial choice, that can empower
individuals to help end foreign-oil dependency, to help fight
SMOG, global warming, and other environmental damage.
And in pure price? The average hybrid is about $3000.00 more
than standard cousins, minus the Prius, which has no
conventional comparison.
The 2005 Jeep Liberty Diesel starts at $25,125, while a similar,
conventional Liberty starts under $23,000. That's more than a
$2000.00 difference.
Diesels hold some promise, but the technology is not even
comparable to hybrids. An investment in hybrid technology is an
investment in the future, diesel just as gas, will soon become
the past.
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