Do many people drive diesels in the US, (and are there many diesel cars available?)

Just wondering as i was trying to find out some info on the Hyundai IX35 due to be released in the UK next month. This is badged as the Tuscon in the US so i had a look on Hyundai USA and was suprised it only has petrol engines not diesels like the european market. (petrol US gives 23-31 mpg, euro diesel gives average 49mpg)

I started looking at the even bigger hyundais, and then some of the Honda SUV's and trucks, including the big ridgeline thing and still no diesels.

Is it just that petrol costs in the US are so cheap (well, relative to europe!) that no one minds getting 30mpg and wont pay the extra initial cost for a diesel because of this? Or is diesel less widely available at normal garage pumps (car pumps, not the seperate truck ones which i assume would be diesel? )
Is there a big price difference between the 2 fuels in the US (diesels currently only about 1 penny more per litre here)

Do you think diesels will become more popular over there with time?

 

I believe in the UK and Europe diesel fuel is taxed less than petrol to encourage people to spend more on diesel engines and save on fuel overall. Here the two fuels are taxed at the same rate and diesel is about 10% higher than gasoline.

That and historical costs for fuel have always been low compared to where you are so people are not as sensitive to differences in efficiency.

Most stations carry diesel at one or more pumps. Mainly for the truck crowd. (are pick-ups called lorries there?).

About the only diesel cars marketed here are VW TDIs.

Edit, there are more, but not really "cars". link

 

thanks! Was just something i started thinkng about this evening. I started driving VW / Audi diesels about 10 years ago and now prefer them to petrol cars as i find them so easy to drive, just as good performance as petrols but better economy, and thats why i was wondering why they werent popular in the US.
In fact the lack of diesel Jazz / Fit is the one thing that puts me off it (not ordered one yet!). Got one to borrow tomorrow for a day from the dealer though so i'll see if i can get used to revving the engine a bit more for the power, i think driving a diesel for so long has made me lazy!

just to answer your truck / lorry question:
A lorry (or HGV - heavy goods vehicle) is just what we call one of the big trucks that carry all sorts of goods around. But most euro lorries have a flat front not a long nose like the US ones. Something to do with a maximum lenght for the road, so by reducing the length of the cab part then they can use a bigger trailer i guess.

lorry - Google Search

A pick up is just a pick up here as well but probably a bit smaller than US ones

 

Diesels are popular on the huge pick-ups here, but not because of fuel efficiency as low-end torque. And the cool truck-er-lorry sound they make.

I think fuel prices would have to be higher than $5/us gallon (0.85GBP/L?) for a couple years for diesels to be attractive in the car segment. We're at about $2.50/gal (0.42GBP/L) right now. A lot of it is just prejudice not really knowing what a modern diesel is like.

 

American automakers (and the early German diesels) killed it for the diesel market in the US during the early 80's by making absolute crap diesel vehicles. Since then a lot of people laugh at the idea of a diesel car simply because they equate diesel fuel with hairy truckers, old clattering 1980's MB diesels, or the horrible Olds Cutlass Diesel of the 1970's. Other than commercial and medium duty trucks, not many automakers have took the plunge and marketed diesels in the US. It's unfortunate, and I envy those in Europe who get diesel power plant options for every vehicle.

I work for Audi and right now we only have the A3 TDI, and the 3.0 Q7 TDI on sale, though there are plans to bring the 3.0 TDI engine and 2.0L TDI into the market for the A4 and Q5. I've driven both and I have to say they are far superior to the gasoline versions given their economy and torque. I'd want nothing more than to have an A4 with a 3.0L TDI and a stick. MB and BMW have their own diesels, but for right now (and in the foreseeable future) its kind of a niche market. A lot of our TDI customers are either former TDI drivers (VW, or Mercedes converts), former citizens of a Euro country, or have heard about the fuel savings and want something that isn't as lame as a Prius, or gaudy as an Escalade Hybrid.

It's regretable, but the vast majority of the US market just don't understand diesels and would rather have a hybrid (eek) because its more "green" and PC.



Too bad the TDI A3 won the green car of the year award.

 

I'm 35 and don't really remember anything of the horrid diesel drama that went on in the 70's and 80's, though I've heard of it. Of course, that past quality problem is only part of the issue.

My issue with diesel is probably a direct result of the requirements (or lack thereof) that the U.S. Gov't puts on diesel fuel and vehicles. Only recently did the fuel become low sulfur, and only recently have some engine manufacturers started adding some emissions controls. I presume cleaner fuel and emissions controls have been standard in Europe for a long time. The general rule of thumb is that almost all diesel vehicles here spew large amounts of putrid exhaust. If I end up behind or next to some diesel belching beast at a stop, I hope that I'm upwind of it or I just turn off all the vents.

Another annoyance is their inherent noise. Some are nearly silent at idle, which is great, but most rattle like a bucket of bolts about to explode.

So I guess our common resistance is the past lack of reliability, the emissions and the noise. There are some promising designs 'out there', but I haven't seen them in person. The lack of engine availability certainly isn't because diesel fuel is hard to find. It's at nearly all fuel stations.

 

I believe that diesel is more cheaper, but for diesel vehicles to overcome gasoline vehicles, I doubt it.

 

Fun Fact; most modern European diesels which use urea injection to reduce NOx emissions produce exhaust that is actually CLEANER than the air in most metro areas. Car and Driver hooked up a spectrum analyzer to the tailpipe of an idling Mercedes Bluetech E320, and then sampled the air in downtown LA. The exhaust was actually cleaner than the air the engine was ingesting. Not to mention most Euro diesels only really emit small amounts of Co2 and water vapor at idle. No NOx, no particulates, no CO.

 

To chime in and add a tad to what everyone else has said (which has been pretty much spot on), perception and regulation are huge parts of why Diesels are not popular here. Average people who are not up on technology associate Diesel with loud, rattly, slow, smoke-puffing, or they think of it as expensive. Government regulations tend to favor the stuff spewed out of Gasoline engines over the stuff spewed out of Diesels even thought they both spew stuff out. Many of the Diesels sold in Europe would not meet US (and particularly California) regulations if they tried to sell them here without further expensive modifications, simply because the two places put emphasis on different things being "bad".

Diesels are costly compared to petrol counterparts, and that has resulted in diesels only being marketed in more upscale cars lately (besides maybe Jettas and Golfs, although even those are seen as slightly upscale compacts here). See the list in the link someone else posted--those cars cost a lot. Plus, when the gas crunch hit a few years back and prices shot up, the US had just started making the switch to low sulfur diesel at that time, and it led to an even bigger price spike for Diesel. It took it a long time to come back down to levels near gasoline. The payoff for Diesel vs Gasoline here would take forever.

One thing to watch out for when comparing mileage ratings between the US and UK is that the tests are very different. The EPA re-did their tests in recent years that led to much lower MPG figures for all cars, basically to compensate for the crappy inefficient way that most people here drive. And over here, it's not just that people don't mind getting 30mpg, it's that most people think 30mpg is a big impressive number to strive for, and one that people are almost surprised to actually get in real world driving.

Americans are stubborn.

 

Diesel car is good.
But I suggest to go with Electric Cars(Hybrid Cars).
Because,Electric Cars help the environment by using less fuel.
Since an electric car runs off a battery charged from electricity rather than fuel from an internal combustion engine, it produces far less pollution than a conventional car as electric plants can more efficiently produce energy than internal combustion engines.

 

HI your right mostly people prefer in USA petrol car because in USA petrol are not expensive but some peoples they are prefer only diesel car, in Hyundai many cars they are only diesel but these car not see easily in showrooms i think this type of car want to purchase they give order to owner of the showroom if you find information about diesel car so you just find in Google im sure they give more results

 

Diesel cars are still rare in the US. VW, BMW, and Mercedes are the only manufacturers even selling diesel passenger cars in the US right now (I think the jeep Grand Cherokee has discontinued it's diesel and Ford, Dodge, Chevy all sell diesel.

 

There are parts of Washington state where everyone owns a turbo diesel Dodge truck.

I would love a small compact turbo diesel for myself. Then I could collect and filter my own biodiesel from the local fast food shops!

French fry smelling exhaust ftw.

 

I have had 3 VW diesels and they were amazing.... Diesel fuel was $.99.9 then and it cost me $10.00 to go 547 miles.... I would love to have something similar to a Fit with a turbo diesel 6 or 8 foward gears and AWD...... I think I read that Subaru is doing something with diesels.

 

Keep us posted about Subaru. Got some nice insight today!

 

Yup... I agree with Steve 244, Diesel Cars are more in UK as the tax on Diesel is less compared to Petrol than USA.

 

I had a Jetta TDI pull up beside me at a signal light and then light up his tires and walk very swiftly away from me.... It upset me to the extent that I put a supercharger on my car so that wouldn't happen again.... I love the monster torque of the VW TDI powered cars and even the 60HP 1600cc engines in the ones I had in the 80s could pull off with a hell of a load better than a 302 automatic F150 hauling the same size load.

 

problem(?) in my area for diesel is that not many stations have pumps for diesel.

 

i abhor driving diesel.

 

Hmm i have been looking at VW Golf TDI seems like they last a long time and get good MPG. Also seems like it would be a fun car 1.8 turbo with 147hp. Now like i said i don't know much about them but i am looking at them