[A4] The Axis of Diesel: Mercedes, GM, even Honda, is betting on a new breed of green diesels

[Rocky Mullin]

>
>from: 
>http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/16/8390259/index.htm?postversion=2006100408
>
>?The Axis of Diesel
>Mercedes, GM, even Honda, is betting on a new breed of green 
>diesels. The goal? To leave hybrids in the dust.
>FORTUNE Magazine
>By Lawrence Ulrich, Fortune
>October 4 2006: 8:57 AM EDT
>
>(Fortune Magazine) -- As night fell over the 24 Hours of LeMans this 
>summer, spectators at France's prestigious endurance race detected a 
>pattern. While competitors entered the pits to refuel, a sleek pair 
>of Audi R10s kept stealing laps around the 13.7-kilometer track. 
>Already the fastest cars on the course, and eerily quiet thanks to a 
>unique emissions filter, the Audis were also proving the most 
>fuel-efficient. When the checkered flag flew, the Audi had made 
>history as the first diesel car to win a major international race.
>
>Diesel isn't just changing LeMans. Thanks to technological 
>breakthroughs, at least six automakers - starting with Mercedes on 
>Oct. 16, Jeep in early 2007, and eventually even hybrid pioneer 
>Honda - will be launching a fleet of New Age diesels. They promise 
>to boost fuel economy by 25% to 40%, with huge torque and 
>turbochargers to deliver the power American drivers crave.
>
>Though initial models won't pass air-quality standards in five 
>states (California and New York among them), Mercedes has announced 
>three 2008 SUVs that will achieve 50-state standards. Honda 
>(Charts), VW, and GM (Charts) are close behind. How big is the 
>market? J.D. Power estimates that diesel sales will triple to 9% of 
>the U.S. market by 2013, compared with a projected hybrid share of 
>5%.
>
>While a diesel may have won LeMans, winning over American consumers 
>won't be easy. "[Toyota's] success has been to put the idea in 
>consumers' minds that hybrids are the only solution, but that's 
>wrong," says clean-diesel proponent Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault 
>(Charts) and Nissan (Charts). Though half the new cars in Europe 
>have diesel engines (credit $6-a-gallon gas and tax subsidies), most 
>Americans still associate the word with soot-spewing, bone-rattling 
>specimens from the '70s. "People ask why we don't just bring them 
>over, but it's a challenge," says Frank Klegon, chief of Chrysler 
>Group's global product development. While hybrids are seen as 
>cutting-edge, "with diesels, it's 'Well, those have been around for 
>100 years.' "
>
>More than 100, actually. Bavarian Rudolf Diesel patented his 
>groundbreaking engine in 1892. While a gasoline engine squeezes gas 
>and air together, a diesel compresses only air, at high pressures, 
>creating so much heat that added fuel ignites without a spark. 
>(Diesel contains more energy than gasoline, and engines burn it more 
>efficiently.)
>Shifting America's gears
>
>Though diesels produce fewer greenhouse gases, they make more 
>smog-forming pollutants. Mercedes debuted the first mass-produced 
>car model in 1936, and popularity peaked here during the early '80s, 
>when four of five Benzes sold featured a so-called oil burner. But 
>the era of cheap gas left most buyers oblivious to fuel economy. As 
>emissions standards got stricter, the EPA even discussed banning 
>diesel a decade ago, notes Margo Oge, director of the EPA's office 
>for transportation and air quality. Except for pickups and a fringe 
>of Volkswagen fanatics, the technology largely fell by the wayside.
>
>Until now. The first breakthrough is that ultra-low-sulfur diesel 
>fuel will roll out to the nation's pumps this month. The move was 
>mandated by the EPA, whose 2009 emissions rules will hold diesels to 
>the same standards - the world's toughest - as gasoline cars. 
>(Environmentalists were thrilled, oil companies less so: The rollout 
>will cost them $6 billion to $9 billion.) The new fuel eliminates 
>97% of sulfur, and it's also the catalyst for automakers to devise 
>strategies to reduce the remaining pollutants.
>
>Mercedes is furthest along. In the E 320 Blutec, a trap stores and 
>purges smog-forming nitrogen oxides. A second filter captures 
>particulate matter - diesel's black calling card, long linked to 
>cancer, asthma, and other health risks. Then ammonia compounds are 
>used to convert nitrogen oxides to water and nitrogen. What will 
>consumers notice? It goes fast, it delivers a knockout 38 highway 
>miles per gallon, there's no smell, and it costs just $1,000 more 
>than the gas model, vs. Lexus's $8,000 premium for its GS hybrid 
>sedan.
>
>To pass the strictest air-quality rules, part two of Mercedes' plan 
>involves adding a small tank of urea, an ammonia-like fluid that 
>further neutralizes pollution. The EPA's Oge says that while the 
>agency has been leery of emissions systems that require maintenance, 
>it will back Mercedes' approach.
>
>By the time Mercedes' 50-state diesels launch, the competition will 
>be heated. In September, Honda - a company long associated with 
>hybrids - announced a catalytic-converter breakthrough that requires 
>no fluid additives, saying it will deliver 50-state models by 2009. 
>And GM recently showed off a burly, ultra-clean V-8 diesel that 
>should arrive around the same time. VW, Audi, Nissan, BMW, and 
>Chrysler Group also have versions in the works.
>
>The question is, Are Americans ready for diesel's second coming? 
>"We've always been a proponent," says Mercedes' E-Class chief, Bart 
>Herring. "But changing the perspective of the rest of the market 
>will take time and effort." Honda's research showed that older 
>Americans are more skeptical of diesel. "Younger people are more 
>open to it," says John Watts, Honda's manager for product planning. 
>"They're more our target of who diesel would appeal to - cars with 
>lots of power yet low fuel consumption."
>
>In other words, for eco-conscious buyers, the race is on.
>
>Honda unveils ultraclean diesel system
>http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/24/autos/honda_diesel.reut/index.htm?postversion=2006092517
>
>Camry Hybrid: Save gas, get pat on bac
>http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/02/autos/review_toyota_camry_hybrid/index.htm?postversion=2006100313
>
>A car that could save the planet - fast
>http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/04/technology/business2_wrightspeed/
>

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