bluetec
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Sales of the 2017 Mercedez-Benz GLS350d are on hold in the U.S. while it awaits a certificate of compliance from the EPA, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said this week. The diesel SUV, which is the automaker's base offering in the GLS range, is slightly different than the 2016 version that was sold last year and hasn't yet been approved for sale by the environmental agency. "As you’re aware, emissions certification—especially for diesels—has been a hot topic," Mercedes spokesman Brian Cotter said in an email. CHECK OUT: VW diesel settlement details: buybacks, payments...
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2014-2015 Mercedes Diesel Models Recalled For Possible Oil Leak
Mercedes-Benz is recalling certain E-Class, GLK-Class, and M-Class BlueTec diesel models.
Stephen Edelstein -
Diesel Luxury Sedans: Audi, BMW, Mercedes Face Off, Mazda Still Missing
While gasoline power units have seen incremental improvements over the last few decades, diesels seem to have shot up from relative obscurity straight to the big time. Sales still lag their gasoline counterparts but performance, refinement and driveability are all more than competitive, and economy...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Mercedes-Benz E 250 BlueTec Diesel: Fuel-Economy Review
In recent years—especially in the time since EPA fuel economy ratings have become more realistic—40 miles per gallon on the highway has become like a sort of high-water mark for non-hybrid cars. Even in 2014, there remain relatively few subcompact or compact sedans that top the 40-mpg...
Bengt Halvorson -
Diesel Or Hybrid? Road & Track Says Benz Beats Prius
Car shoppers today are spoiled for choice when it comes to fuel-efficient vehicles. When else in history have we had the choice between gasoline, diesel, biofuel, natural gas, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full battery electric vehicles? When it comes to actually putting fuel in your tank, many turn...
Antony Ingram -
Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 BlueTEC Diesel: Luxury Crossover Fuel Economy
This year has seen several new diesel passenger vehicles hit U.S. roads, and last fall, we were able to spend a full weekend with the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 BlueTEC 4matic crossover. We'd driven the luxury compact utility vehicle for a day last spring, and enjoyed it--but we wanted to put it...
John Voelcker -
Diesel engines and typical American-style commuting conditions are already a great match. Longer daily-driving distances get diesels up to their peak operating temperature—and hopefully out to higher highway speeds, where they return their best fuel economy. In low-speed stop-and-go driving, however, even modern-day diesel engines are no revelation in efficiency, sipping away at their fuel at a less frugal rate. It's where we’ve noticed, for instance, that a Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid will surge ahead of a Jetta TDI in real-world fuel-efficiency, for example, even if the TDI is...
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2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 BlueTEC: Fuel Efficiency Drive Report
Launched for 2009 and notably refreshed for the 2013 model year, the Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class luxury compact crossover has never been particularly green. But with the mid-year addition of a new diesel version, its fuel efficiency goes up by a third--which isn't bad for a pricey, heavy crossover. Two...
John Voelcker -
Best Diesel Car Of 2013: Cast Your Vote Now!
We don't know that 2013 will be seen as the tipping point for the acceptance of diesel-fueled passenger vehicles in the United States. But we're sure of one thing: that tipping point is now closer than ever before. While the list of diesel vehicles currently available in the United States market...
Kurt Ernst -
2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK Revealed, BlueTEC Diesel Due
A small SUV with the Mercedes-Benz "three-pointed star" sitting on the grille may not be everyone's idea of a green car, but as it's representative of the trend towards downsizing, it still marks an improvement over large, gas-guzzling SUVs. Even more so when it's the new 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK...
Antony Ingram -
What's The Best Diesel Car Of 2012? Cast Your Vote Now
The prospects for clean-diesel passenger cars are, slowly, looking up. Long-time diesel stalwarts Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen were joined in the U.S. market by BMW and Audi a few years ago, and the number of diesel models rises this year with the addition of the new 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI and...
John Voelcker -
2012 Mercedes-Benz S 350 Bluetec Clean Diesel: Quick Drive
What can you say about driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class? It's luxurious, smooth, powerful, packed with features, impressive on the road, and very, very large. Now you can add another adjective: green. While the S 400 Hybrid has been in the mix for two years, Mercedes-Benz is launching a clean-diesel...
John Voelcker -
Though about half the new cars sold in Europe are diesels, the technology has never had much traction in the United States, partly because much stricter U.S. clean air regulations made it virtually untenable. But several years ago Daimler and Volkswagen introduced cars powered by clean diesel technology capable of meeting U.S. requirements. Audi and BMW followed as well. Such cars include a diesel version of VW's Jetta, its Golf, and for 2012 its new Passat, along with the Mercedes-Benz ML 350, GL350 and R 350. (A useful online primer on Daimler's BlueTEC diesel technology is available on the...
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Five Reasons Small Diesels Won't Dominate the U.S. Car Market
There's nothing like a rant from an old friend to focus the mind. We recently read a profanity-laced note from a high school pal excoriating all the major automakers for not selling small, high-mileage diesel cars and trucks in the U.S. We referred him to an article about why we can't buy small...
John Voelcker -
2012 Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTEC 4MATIC Making U.S. Debut In Detroit
Our cousins across the Atlantic got the new diesel-powered S-Class in June of last year, which we reported on back then. Now, on the eve of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will finally be bringing its fuel-efficient flagship sedan to U.S. soil. Set to debut at this...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz Diesels And Hybrids: Green Goodness, Slow Sales?
Mercedes-Benz offers a clean-diesel Bluetec version of each of its large utility vehicles, the R-Class, GL-Class, and M-Class, along with a Hybrid version of the ML. But even combined, the standard gasoline versions of these vehicles are still far ou
Bengt Halvorson -
2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 Bluetec Adds Clean Diesel to S-Class
Continuing to diversify the green powertrain options it offers to buyers, Mercedes-Benz will add a clean-diesel model to its largest sedan line, the S-Class. The new 2011 Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTEC sedan joins this year's S400 Hybrid, which adds a mild hybrid system with a 15-kilowatt electric...
John Voelcker -
2010 Geneva Motor Show: 57-MPG Mercedes-Benz E300 Bluetec Hybrid
Earlier today, we ran down our list of new green production cars at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, where press days are now underway. There's one more we might have added to the list: the 2012 Mercedes-Benz E300 Bluetec Hybrid. At the show today, Mercedes-Benz confirmed that the car "has already...
John Voelcker -
It's beginning to look as if the worst is over for U.S. auto sales. The year that just closed was, in the immortal words of Queen Elizabeth II, an annus horribilis, with only 10.4 million vehicles sold, down 21 percent on 2008 and the lowest total since 1982. But some light seems to be appearing on the horizon. According to Autotrader's Brian Gluckman, the end of 2009 "saw shoppers returning to showrooms to finally begin releasing the pent-up demand for new vehicles that has been predicted all year long." Fleet declines by 4 million That's a good thing for carmakers, since U.S. car owners...
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Why Can't We Buy Small European Diesels in the U.S.?
It may be the one question we hear most often here at GreenCarReports.com: Why can't I buy one of those great little fuel-efficient diesels, like they have in Europe? Take, for example, the ultra-high-mileage Econetic version of the Ford Fiesta, sold in Europe with a 1.6-liter turbodiesel that...
John Voelcker -
2009 Los Angeles Auto Show: Preview
Only a handful of U.S. auto shows count as important. Detroit, in January, is one; historically, New York in April has been another. But the up-and-comer is the Los Angeles Auto Show, which now occurs in late November or early December and focuses on green cars of all stripes: hybrids, electric...
John Voelcker -
Fast Forward: Mercedes-Benz Updates 1992 Diesel
Now, this is cool. You've likely seen the Mercedes-Benz diesels of the 1980s and 1990s chugging along somewhere or other. But how much better are today's clean diesels than the solid old oil-burners of 20 years ago that still power those sturdy survivors? Back to the future: 1992 to 2009...
John Voelcker -
Ford Super Duty Pickups To Offer Clever PowerStroke Turbodiesel V8
Ford's been around a long time; it just celebrated the 100th birthday of its Model T. Much of its green news these days focuses on its upcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta subcompact, the well-received new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan, and its Escape Hybrid sport utility. But Ford had never designed and...
John Voelcker