This is why I have been advocating diesels to everyone I know. As a Ford fan, (think "Ranger" in RangerM) I can testify that Ford can build a decent vehicle when they want to.
My company switched to all diesels last year, from an all gasoline fleet and our fuel costs did not change and were perhaps a little lower, even as the price of fuel went up.
Environmentalists say these are dirty engines, and they are right on a gallon per gallon basis, but what they fail to account for is the SIGNIFICANT increase in effiency that a diesel provides (MPG), and their tendency to last longer because the engines are built stronger than their gasoline counterparts (they have to due to the higher compression ratios)
I was going to purchase an F150 had they made their V6 diesel available, but they killed it when it couldn't meet emissions regs for 2007. They KILLED an F150 that would get 35-40 mpg (claimed by Ford) on the highway!
Does that make sense?
By the bye, available now in Canada is diesel fuel having less sulfur. This will be available widely in the US beginning in 2006 ... meaning that diesels will have reduced pollution.
Also, in Europe is the Mercedes-Benz "A Class" - the four cylinder diesel that gets over 60 mpg ... !
PSA Peugeot Citroën is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, an objective it considers to be a strategic priority. Already recognised as a reference in the development of advanced diesel and petrol engines, the Group has introduced key technological innovations, including HDi high-pressure direct injection diesel engines, the associated systems to control pollutant emissions, and direct injection petrol engines that respect the environment while enhancing driving pleasure.
European leader in diesel engines
Thanks to an innovation strategy focusing on the engine itself and on pollution control technology, PSA Peugeot Citroën has forged a reputation as the leading diesel manufacturer in Europe.
In the early 1990s, diesel engines were criticised for excessive noise and vibration, and for their polluting particulate emissions. PSA Peugeot Citroën responded by pursuing research to develop a new generation of high pressure direct injection diesel engines using common rail technology. Since their launch in 1998, more than 4 million HDi engines have been produced. Their success is based on:
- Fuel consumption 20% lower than a prechamber diesel engine, resulting in an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions
- Enhanced driveability thanks to torque available at low engine speed, with noise and vibration levels comparable to those of a petrol engine
- Excellent environmental performance thanks to the precise combustion control of common-rail technology and efficient pollution control systems.
This technology, which is at the cutting edge of efforts to reduce fuel consumption, was combined in 2000 with a new pollution control system, the diesel particulate filter system, that traps all diesel particles - whatever their size - and reduces emissions to barely measurable levels (0.004 g/km, the equivalent of a petrol engine). In a world first, the diesel particulate filter system (DPFS) was introduced on the Peugeot 607. It now equips the Peugeot 307, 406 and 807, and the Citroën C5 and C8. In time, it will be offered on all Peugeot and Citroën models.
Over the first nine months of 2003, sales of vehicles with very low CO2 emissions (equal to or less than 120g of CO2 per km) represented almost a quarter of the Group's diesel sales in Europe.
The PSA Peugeot Citroën range of diesel engines:
The 1.4 HDi 90 bhp, one of the least polluting engines, with CO2 emissions of 110g per km or less;
The 1.6 HDi 110 bhp, fitted as standard with the DPFS;
The 2.0 HDi 136 bhp;
The 2.2 HDi 136 bhp;
The V6 HDi 2.7 l 200 bhp, first mounted on the Jaguar S-Type.
All the Group's diesel engines, apart from the 2.2 l 136 bhp, have been developed in partnership with the Ford Motor Company under a cooperation agreement with PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Pollution control systems
Regulations governing automobile emissions currently cover four pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and particles. In early 2000, PSA Peugeot Citroën ushered in a new era of clean diesels with a Peugeot 607 featuring the world's first HDi diesel engine equipped with a diesel particulate filter system (DPFS). The system reduces particle emissions to levels that are barely measurable. Thanks to the flexibility of the common rail fuel injection system, the DPFS can be regenerated by burning the trapped particles in a post-injection process. In this way, the system deals with the remaining drawback of diesel engines: the emission of carbon-containing particles. In June 2003, the PSA Peugeot Citroën group celebrated the 500,000th vehicle equipped with a DPFS and announced another revolution: a new generation of maintenance-free particulate filters based on a new "octosquare" filter architecture. The HDi engine has substantially reduced emissions of pollutants, notably CO (down 40%), HCs (down 50%) and particles at source (down 60%). At the same time, CO2 emissions have been cut by 20%.