Diesels vie for respect in an electric-vehicle world

Electric vehicles seem to get the publicity and the government perks, but the seemingly retrograde diesel might be an equally worthy recipient of energy-efficiency accolades and public largesse. That's the view put forward in an article titled “Efficiency, Imported From Europe” by Lawrence Ulrich in the New York Times.

As Ulrich puts it, “The makers of plug-in hybrids and E.V.’s have reaped billions of dollars in federal loans and energy grants. Buyers of the electrically enabled vehicles have also been given bountiful perks, from tax credits and the privilege of high-occupancy vehicle lanes to home charging units underwritten by taxpayers.”

He continues, “Yet vehicles that were once the antithesis of eco-friendly are making far deeper inroads with mainstream consumers: fuel-sipping, ultralong-range diesel cars.”

Those of us who learned to drive by following smoke-belching underpowered 18-wheelers up to the Eastern Continental Divide on the newly built Interstate 80 in Central Pennsylvania have few long-term pleasant memories of the diesel engine. But we've also subsequently known people with clean, efficient, modern diesel-powered luxury automobiles with fuel-efficient start-stop capabilities.

My own experience with start-stop, like the 1960s-era diesel trucks, is not favorable—any car that I owned that stopped at a traffic light was unlikely to start again. But technology has come a long way since then, and companies like BMW are offering reliable diesel-powered vehicles with stop-start functionality.

Indeed, evolutionary mild-hybridization technologies may offer a smoother path to energy-efficient vehicles than more disruptive technologies.

The Times article quotes Rainer Michel, vice president for product planning at Volkswagen of America, as saying, “This planet will not be rescued by superexpensive technology for the few, but when the majority of mobility is clean. Diesel is far less expensive than plug-ins and E.V.’s, with better range and performance. This technology is available today.”

It turns out that my early negative reactions to diesel power are dying out. The Times quotes Wayne Killen, general manager of product strategy for Audi of America, as saying, “Younger buyers, especially, don’t have those notions of what diesel was like.”

Barriers that exist today, the Times continues, center on the pricing and availability of diesel fuel. But, the Times continues, about 52% of American gas stations have at least one diesel pump. So diesel fuel is much more readily available than EV charging stations or battery-swap stations.