Diesel
-
Call it the Ikea mindset. On populated islands, space is at a premium, just like those stereotypical Swedish kitchens you see when you stroll through your local assemble-it-yourself retailer. That space restriction is a major reason fossil fuels remain a better power-generation option than renewables on populated islands that have just experienced a natural disaster—like Puerto RIco. DON'T MISS: Tesla installs solar panels at Puerto Rico hospital At least, that's the argument made by Navigant Research in a recent blog post that uses the recent post-hurricane rebuilding effort in the...
-
VW extends dirty-diesel bonus in Germany; 8 percent traded for new electric car
A scrappage scheme in Germany launched by Volkswagen to take the dirtiest diesels off the road has been extended beyond its planned end date of this month. Two years after the diesel emissions scandal that cost it over $25 billion, Volkswagen is extending an incentive program aimed at owners of...
Mark Stevenson -
VW CEO: European subsidies for diesel should end
One of the most powerful automotive CEOs in the industry at a company that once found monumental success in diesel-powered cars has delivered a commandment to European governments from atop his throne in Wolfsburg. Thou shalt not subsidize diesel. That commandment, from VW CEO Mattias Müller...
Mark Stevenson -
Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for December 2017
If you're looking to give the gift of efficient motoring this holiday season, numerous manufacturer incentives are available this month that'll save you from breaking the bank. For December, CarsDirect has uncovered leases as cheap as $159/month and discounts as much as $18,100 on fuel-efficient...
Mark Stevenson -
VW Dieselgate exec Schmidt gets maximum jail sentence: 7 years
A Volkswagen manager who pleaded guilty to deceiving regulators in the United States over the emissions of the company's TDI diesel engines has been sentenced to the maximum penalty of seven years in prison and the maximum fine of $400,000. "This crime ... attacks and destroys the very foundation...
Mark Stevenson -
Big Oil will lose grip on global vehicle market in less than 25 years: study
The latest study on the future of transportation paints an increasingly dim picture for the oil industry, though it suggests that the industry is in no danger of collapse. Instead, Big Oil will lose its dominance in the transportation sector over a 25-year period as electric cars and mobility...
Sean Szymkowski -
Hyundai announced in Detroit on Wednesday that it would bring to market eight new or redesigned crossovers by the end of the decade. The new utility vehicles will sport a wide range of powertrains including battery-electric, diesel, hydrogen fuel-cell, and gasoline. The first crossover to arrive on our shores will be the 2018 Hyundai Kona, which will go on sale in March. “The Kona is only the beginning of our product revolution for Hyundai,” said Mike O’Brien, Hyundai Motor America vice president. “These vehicles are aimed squarely at the sales leaders in each segment...
-
Those fuel-efficient diesels? Actually worse on lifetime CO2, study says
Diesel-powered cars have enjoyed a comfortable market share in Europe for decades, but their decline in popularity continues following numerous diesel-emission cheating scandals and regulatory crackdowns. As if diesel cars hadn't already had enough negative press, a new study says "fuel-efficient"...
Sean Szymkowski -
Regulators approve updates to some Audi, VW, Porsche 3.0-liter diesel SUVs
State and federal environmental regulators announced Monday they had approved modifications to illegally polluting Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche SUVs fitted with VW Group's 3.0-liter V-6 TDI turbodiesel engine The EPA and California Air Resources Board sent a letter Friday to VW announcing the...
Aaron Cole -
Sales of cars with engines proposed to end in The Netherlands by 2030
European countries continue to assess more aggressive policies that favor or mandate zero-emission vehicles to move away from fossil fuels for transportation. Last year, a recommendation passed by the Dutch senate proposed The Netherlands join Norway in banning the sale of new cars powered solely...
John Voelcker -
Ahead of France, Paris to phase out internal-combustion engines by 2030
France followed two other European countries—Norway and the Netherlands—with a plan to ban the sale of new cars powered by gasoline and diesel by 2040. While the country will stick to the 2040 timeline, France's capital city of Paris announced a more aggressive timeline. Ten years ahead...
Sean Szymkowski -
Oxford aims to be world's first zero-emissions city
The college town of Oxford, England, is poised to become the first municipality in the United Kingdom to ban gasoline and diesel-fueled cars from its city center. A proposal headed to the Oxford City Council has four stages that would culminate in a city free of vehicular emissions by 2035...
Andrew Ganz -
Copenhagen's mayor wants to deal a major blow to diesel-fueled cars—but not trucks. Frank Jensen, the city's mayor, says that he will propose legislation to ban new diesel cars from entering the Danish capital by January 1, 2019. Jensen's plan would not apply to vehicles bought and registered prior to the close of 2018, and it appears to leave out diesel-fueled vans and trucks. It's that last point that makes it far less aggressive than bans set to take effect in many other European cities. Denmark's parliament will have to pass any legislation, however. Copenhagen estimates that around...
-
48-volt mild hybrids heading toward ubiquity in Europe as diesel declines
Public concerns over diesel cars, and their ebbing sales, have become a well-documented phenomenon in Europe after decades of popularity. When the VW diesel scandal exposed deliberate cheating, and real-world testing revealed that virtually no diesels certified for sale actually met emission...
Sean Szymkowski -
CA legislators propose $1 billion to remove dirtiest diesel trucks
The state of California has officially launched its legislative push for stricter heavy-duty truck and bus emission regulations. Following calls for the state to use its recently-extended carbon cap-and-trade program to fund updates to fleets of semi trucks and other commercial vehicles, four state...
Sean Szymkowski -
CA should use VW mitigation funds for cleaner diesel trucks to cut NOx: diesel lobbying group
California is set to receive a lump sum of funds from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust following its diesel emission scandal. With $423 million at the state's discretion, groups are lobbying hard to ensure the funds are used to have an immediate and positive impact on the environment...
Sean Szymkowski -
Used diesel demand drops in Germany over fear of software upgrades
Diesel-powered cars, long a staple on European roads, are starting to lose favor as million of dollars of inventory begins to pile up in used diesel models. The inventory, largely recent models certified under the superseded Euro-5 emission standards, has boomed recently over the possibility the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Audi diesel: another shoe drops as top VW Group execs implicated
It has been nearly two years since Volkswagen came clean and admitted its "clean diesel" engines were actually quite dirty. In 2015, a VW engineer admitted the TDI diesel cars sold in the U.S. since 2009 were outfitted with "defeat device" software that let them pass emission tests, only to emit...
Sean Szymkowski -
Former Volkswagen employee James Liang was sentenced in Detroit on Friday to serve 40 months in prison and pay a $200,000 fine for his role in the global Volkswagen diesel-emission cheating scandal. It was a stiffer sentence than expected for an engineer who helped to create software that controlled exhaust emissions only when Volkswagen and Audi's TDI diesel cars detected they were being tested on rolling roads. Prosecutors had recommended, according to The Detroit News, a sentence of three years in federal prison and a fine of $20,000. DON'T MISS: VW, Mercedes, Opel, Fiat launch buybacks of...
-
2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel (very brief) first drive
We spent a few days with a gasoline-powered 2018 Chevy Equinox back in May, but now we've driven a much rarer version. The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel will start to arrive at U.S. Chevy dealers within two weeks, the company says. On Wednesday, as part of a comprehensive presentation on the five...
John Voelcker -
Do German makers face 'iPhone moment,' after dodging diesel bullet?
The Volkswagen diesel scandal has largely fallen out of the public eye in the U.S., as VW and Audi buy back and modify roughly half a million noncompliant vehicles sold from 2009 through 2016. In Germany, meanwhile, the major sellers of diesel vehicles—not only VW Group but also Mercedes...
John Voelcker -
VW, Mercedes, Opel, Fiat launch buybacks of dirtiest diesels in Europe
Almost two years ago, the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal burst into public view, and nothing has been quite the same since then. The news that VW Group engineers had deliberately cheated on eight years of emission tests for the "clean diesels" sold by Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche sent...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel: fuel economy review for automatic, manual versions
Times are tough for sedans in general, as buyers swarm into crossover utility vehicles and ignore the passenger cars sitting next to them on the showroom floor. Also, gasoline remains cheap. All of which may add up to tough times for the current Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, the compact sedan to be...
John Voelcker -
VW exec to plead guilty to diesel cheating charges after jail, house arrest
It has been almost two years since Volkswagen changed the prospects for diesel-powered cars when it admitted to eight years' worth of cheating on emissions tests for its so-called clean diesel vehicles. The effects of the German automaker's diesel scandal are still unfolding today, not only in the...
Sean Szymkowski