History and future of the diesel engine.?

[Transporter]

Is the Diesel engine dead?

[kaanage]

Only starry-eyed children drip fed on propaganda and too young to do basic maths think diesel engines will be supplanted any time soon.

There is some possibility of light, road passenger vehicles having diesels excluded but that's only through misguided legislation based on dubious "studies" on particulates.

[Lucas_R]

Haven't watched the video - but in my opinion, now that petrol engines are so much more efficient and more powerful with direct injection and most manufacturers using turbocharging, I feel that diesel engines in passenger vehicles are no longer needed.

The difference in fuel consumption is minimal between a modern diesel and a modern petrol engine, and diesels just have so much emissions junk on them these days that in my experience, makes them unreliable. And lets not forget that diesels cost on average $2-4k more than their petrol counterpart, which will take many km's to pay off.

I have a Audi SQ5 and have had some simply stupid issues with it - ridiculous for a 4.5yr old car with 50,000km on it. All issues related to diesel emissions junk (EGR and DPF). Thankfully I have been able to fix these issues myself for minimal outlay (but many hours of my time physically doing the work and researching info) because I am somewhat handy, but otherwise I would have paid hundreds if not thousands to have my DPF flushed and EGR cleaned out. And now I use VAGDPF to monitor my DPF levels and go on pointless drives to let the DPF clean itself properly each 7-10 days.

This is my first diesel vehicle and will be my last.

Its up to manufacturers to offer decent petrol engine variants because in many cases, customers are almost "forced" to buy a diesel because the only petrol engine on offer is a pathetic underpowered unit. (eg Hyundai Santa Fe who until just recently only offered a 2.4L petrol or a 2.2T diesel. The 2.4L petrol was pathetically underpowered for such a big heavy vehicle so most buyers bought the diesel. In the past few months they have finally offered a 3.5L V6 petrol which is much better powerwise, but an even better engine would have been a smaller capacity turbo 4 cyl or turbo V6)

For trucks and buses and heavy machinery etc diesels are still valid and useful.

[tyr382]

I’d say diesel about to make a come back being that gas to liquid fuels are on the horizon. Shell is investing heavily in their GTL fuel technology. And Australia investing even heavier in the gas industry I’d say there’s some change to happen soon. Just yesterday I noticed shells engine synthetic oils from natural gas




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[Ozsko]

Legislation in Europe is forcing diesel off the roads there but different regions will have different needs. If the European legislation affects the bottom line with diesel production and makes it difficult to make a profit then diesel is dead. Look at Europe, what happens there will decide what we drive and just making a judgement from an Oz perspective means nothing.

[tyr382]

I don’t see why you would ban the use of combustion engines. To me that’s just a political stunt.
Synthetic fuels with a carbon loop cycle is by far a better alternative then battery cars.
The fact is liquid fuels are always going to be more efficient at energy storage and transferring. If a wind mill that produces fuel from Co2 capture and steam electrolysis, I see no reason why the combustion engine would be obsolete
The problem isn’t the combustion engine it’s the fuel.
People are so possessed about the ideas that combustion engines are bad to the point that even if you made them carbon free, they will still see batteries greener.
It’s like a cult


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[Ozsko]

Tell the European politicians because they are defining the future of the motor car by legislating for fleet emission averages for the manufacturers. What effect that has on the future is yet to be seen but the emission average is driving the hybrid car into the market because manufacturers have no other choice. People think it is the manufacturers driving the change but it is the politicians who are and Australia will eventually have to drive what we are given. Everyone has an opinion annd yours is as valid as anyone else's but I don't think synthetic fuels are a starter.