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Old 01-25-2013, 06:46 AM   #10
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Math is beyond most people. Here's a 300 mile comparison between a car that gets 30 mpg and a turbo diesel car that gets 40 mpg

300/30= 10 x 3.20= 32.00
32/300= $.1067 per mile.

3.80/gal diesel
300/40= 7.5 x 3.80= 28.5
28.5/300= $.095 per mile

Gas: 10k x .1067= $1067
Diesel: 10k x .095= $950

Nah, diesel is more expensive- right? Those figures aren't even real world (more than 15% diff). Let's assume that the gas car gets somewhere realistic like 32-35 mpg, and the diesel gets what VW TDI owners report: 48-50 mpg. The stretch widens. There are places in the USA where diesel is as cheap as regular gas. If our oil companies weren't making a mint selling diesel to South America, the price would be lower. The price stretch widens further when you compare biodiesel blends to 100% petro diesel. Why our manufacturers- especially hybrids like the Volt- didn't combine diesel and electric, I'll never know. Especially since Clinton and Gore had a cooperative with the Big 3 building diesel electric hybrids that were reported to get 72 mpg - without batteries! Those cars were all built on the same principle that trains run on- diesel engines running generators powering electric motors. That's basically how the Volt runs also- except with a gasoline engine, and that the gasoline engine has the ability to drive the wheels whereas in the PNGV vehicles, the cars were specifically series hybrids where the engine isn't connected mechanically with the transmission.

Where's that tech today? Buried in an America that can only see what's in front of their face.

And Ford? Ford NA is so stupid that in spite of requests they still don't believe that a TDCI Transit Connect will sell to business owners. People who have vehicles used for making money know that the diesel fuel economy is affected less by a load than gasoline.
Be eclectic.
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