In response to my previous kvetching about the scarcity of cheap fuel efficient cars, JWK commented that his 2001 Golf TDI gets 48 MPG (it’s rated for 44). Meanwhile, TreeHugger pointed out that Volkswagen’s Polo BlueMotion gets 62 MPG (Volkswagen UK claims the current Polo hatchback gets up to 72 MPG in diesel (I assume that’s about 60 MPG in US measures), and TreeHugger points out the 157 mpg Loremo AG).
Sadly, the Polo has never been sold in the US (and there’s no sign that VW plans to bring it here), and looking around the Volkswagen US website leaves a reader wondering if VW ever did sell diesel cars in the US. In fact most every diesel passenger car has been taken off the US market (compare 2003) because manufacturers are having trouble meeting LEV II regulations.
The irony here is that while the diesel Polo consumes significantly less fuel and emits correspondingly less CO2, it still has greater NOx and particulate matter emissions than a similar gasoline-powered model. L. David Peters thinks keeping diesel passenger cars off our highways is foolish when the potential for reduced greenhouse gas emissions is so great (easy to say, I suppose, when you don’t live with California’s smog (downtown, highways, hills, up high, on the desktop, and creeping into the wilderness)).
Manufacturers are developing newer, cleaner diesels that should be released soon. The Smart Fortwo I mentioned previously appears to actually be a diesel after all (see 2005 review that claims it gets 48 MPG) and it should be available in early 2008.
I’m contemplating signing up for the Smart reservation program, as the car is clearly a leader in all the features that I named the other day, but that 157 MPG Loremo would be a winner for me if it ever gets off the drafting table and into production.
diesel, Volkswagen, TDi, Smart Fortwo, LEV II, emissions, fuel economy, mileage
Posted August 16, 2007 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. Tags: diesel, emissions, fuel economy, LEV II, mileage, Smart Fortwo, TDi, Volkswagen.
4 Comments
Comments RSS
TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
User contributed tags for this post:
smart deisel (31) - diesel economy (23) - volkswagon diesal (21) - diesel fuel economy (19) - deisel economy (18) - Toyota Eco Spirit (18) - diesel mpg (17) - diesel mpg ratings (16) - smart car deisel (16) - vw diesal (16) - jetta diesel mpg (16) - diesel (15) - diesal fuel (13) - smart diesel 2008 (13) - vw diesel cars (12) - best fuel economy diesel (12) - highest MPG ratings for diesel (11) - smart diesel mpg (11) - best diesel mpg (11) - golf deisel (10) - smart car diesel (10) - best deisel cars (9) - diesel fuel mileage (9) - polo fuel emissions (8) - deisel mpg (8) - mpg leaders (8) - volkswagen diesel mpg (8) - mpg for the diesel smart car (8) - volkswagon diesel car fuel encomy (8) - volkswagon deisel (8) - smart diesel usa (7) - volkswagon jetta diesel mpg (7) - best deisel car (7) - diesel volkswagons (7) - car with best fuel economy uk (7) - smart car diesel mileage (7) - polo fuel economy (7) - smart car diesel mpg (6) - vw diesel Polo (6) - deisel smart car (6) - 2008 diesel mpg (5) - Smart/diesel hybrid (5) - volkswagon jetta dieselgas mikleage (5) - economy diesel cars (5) - DEISEL CAR (5) - Diesal mpg (5) - diesal volkswagon (5) - vw smart diesel (5) - best diesel volkswagen (5) - golf diesel mpg (5) - volkswagen diesel california (5) - Volkswagen Diesel Polo (4) - 2006 smart diesel fuel mileage (4) - 2008 Volkswagons gas mileage (4) - volkswagon golf deisel (4) - loremo USA (4) - volkswagondeisel.com (4) - best diesel mpg car (4) - diesal cars (4) - mss (4) - volkswagen diesel gas mileage 2008 golf (4) - smart diesel us (4) - vw best mpg (4) - smart fortwo diesel conversion (4) - deisel vw (4) - vw diesel california (4) - 2008 deisel cars (4) - best diesel fuel (4) - deisel fuel (4) - smart diesel fuel (4) - 74 mpg vw (4) - economy of volkswagen diesel (4) - toyota diesel mpg (4) - fuel economy uk (4) - volts wagon jetta diesel 2008 (4) - vw beetle diesel mpg california (4) - diesel fuel options (4) - smartcar deisel (3) - Volkswagon diesel mpg (3) - VW diesel mpg (3) - quit selling diesel volkswagens (3) - volkswagon deisel fuel economy (3) - best diesel fuel economy cars 2008 (3) - volkswagon jetta diesel (3) - diesal volkswagons (3) - Smart Diesels (3) - vw diesel 2008 (3) - 2006 vw beetle diesel mpg (3) - diesel cars usa (3) - 2005 polo diesel MPG (3) - diesel mileage (3) - mpg of diesel (3) - best fuel economy diesel cars (3) - Loremo AG dealership (3) - smart diesal (3) - vw deisel (3) - best fuel economy uk (3) - L David Peters (3) - fuel economy 2001 golf tdi (3) - volkswagon doesel (3) - deisel fuel economy (3) - 2008 golf deisel mpg (3) - smart diesel mileage (3) - smart car diesel fuel economy (3) - fuel economy diesel (3) - voltswagon deseil (3) - diesel smart car emissions us (3) - car fuel measures reliability recomendations (3) - best diesel mileage (3) - best fuel economy uk tdi (3) - 2006 tdi fuel mileage (3) - volkswagen diesel cars (3) - toyota eco-spirit (3) - 2008 tdi fuel economy (3) - best fuel economy 2008 diesel (3) - 2008 golf diesel fuel economy (3) - deisel fuel mileage (3) - diesal mileage (3) - 2005 golf diesel mpg (3) - 2002 golf diesel conversion (3) - best diesal (3) - polo VW deisel (2) - 2001 jetta diesel mpg (2) - Smart Diesel cars in Colorado (2) - smart diesel reliability (2) - mileage 89 vw diesel (2) - running jet fuel in vw diesels (2) - best fuel economy at 70 mph (2) - emissions for golf (2) - vw diesel reservation program (2) - VW deisel cars (2) - vw diesel statS (2) - jetta 2001 diesel mpg (2) - diesal economy (2) - VW diesel cars available in united states (2) - Toyo sex.com (2) - fuel efficient diesel cars in UK (2) - smart diesel (2) - deisel volkswagons (2) - best deisel (2) - diesel economy car (2) - fuel economy ratings on Diesel (2) - 2001 golf tdi mpg (2) - 2008 Volkswagon jetta Diesel-mileage ratings (2) - golf 1 diesel (2) - 91 jetta diesel fuel mileage (2) - fuel economy golf diesel (2) - what car gets best fuel economy (2) - vw uk fuel economy (2) - diesel VW cars that get the best mpg (2) -
Hello again, still got no answer. Perhaps not the right place but is the library and his services available for exchange students like me?
Many thanks,
Ilona
The Netherlands
Volkswagen absolutely sold turbocharged fuel-injected diesels in the United States. I know because I drove one at a dealership in Colorado Springs. It very quick for such a small engine. I don’t know if it’s still being offered, but if it’s not it could have something to do with reliability. Lots of people buy according to Consumer Reports recommendations and right now CR is big on Japanese stuff.
VW has sold diesels for many years in the U.S. market, most recently the efficient and powerful Turbo Direct Injection (TDI) turbocharged version. Go to http://www.tdiclub.com for everything you ever wanted to know about these cars, including sales of used ones. I believe that VW quit importing the TDI version for the 2007-08 model years due to conversion of the diesel to a common rail injection system. From what I hear, the newly engineered diesel will once again be available in the U.S. I own two VW TDIs, one Jetta and one New Beetle. I just took the Jetta on a 1300 mile road trip, average speed 70 mph, some with AC running, and got 53 mpg going and coming back. These cars are powerful and will run easily over 110 mph. I expect to get 450,000 miles out of each of my TDIs. What more could I ask for?
Compared to Japanese derived cars, VWs suffer in the reliability department, and it is a good thing that I have always worked on my own cars. The interiors are cheaply made, which is why I just ordered new leather seat covers for both of my cars.
VW has recently developed and intends to produce a Golf diesel electric hybrid that gets 69 mpg. You can take these fuel mileage figures to the bank, unlike those for Prius. My Jetta is rated at 48 mpg on the highway, but I get 53 because of some low rolling resistance Toyo tires that I purchased. They do make a big difference.
Whatever happened to the Toyota Eco Spirit? Toyota had a working vehicle in the early 2000s which was reported to achieve 104 mpg. So, why aren’t we seeing a zillion of them on the roads? My conspiracy fantasies are going full-throttle.
Bob