http://www.leftlanenews.com/lutz-int...lt-future.html

 

Well, he's in the business and has access to things I don't, but I personally disagree about the diesel comment. It is very popular in Europe and continues to be.

Diesel offers more energy per gallon than gas,meaning you can go farther per tank in a given car with equal preparations as a gas burner. Diesel (especially low-sulphur) is much better for the environment as far as emissions goes. Quite frankly, they are pretty peppy little engines that are very mizerly on fuel and offer better economy, What's not to like except the price (which is a whole nother thread)?

I appreciate his position on the Volt. I think he must be careful and walk a tight line regarding the VOlt. Don't play it up too big or the world will cry "failure" when it doesn't deliver a new moon to our planet... don't play it up enough, and he misses out on some of the best fre PR and advertising ever. He's in a tough spot there, but one that offers some potential gains for im (and GM).

OK interview.

 

I like Lutz a lot. He is a sensible person. Reminds me of my friend's former boss. My friend worked for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, writing software for the maintenance of the premises (runway cleaning, snow removal, lights, etc..), a very complex application. His boss was in his 70s, and was an excellent programmer - he actively participated in the coding as well as planning and managing.

He is also right about the price of diesel close to negating the mileage difference. I did a rough estimate a month ago when considering Jetta TDI. Although it gets about 25 % better fuel economy, the price of diesel was about 10% higher. I know that over the past 6 months, the price of diesel was 20% higher.

When the car takes a $4000 premium over its gasoline counterpart, it's a little more difficult to justify it.

As for why there is a "shortage" of diesel... It needs less energy to produce than gasoline. There are a limited number of refineries in North America. A good solution would be to build more refineries, which would reduce the price of diesel. That won't happen, though.

 

In what way are diesels better for the environment? They're
worse for the environment in terms of particulates and NOx. Particulates cause lung cancer and NOx causes smog. Now a tier 2 bin 5 diesel is fine on both counts, but it's not as clean as a tier 2 bin 1-4 gas engine. Still 2 problems though.

1. With the NOx adsorption, SCR, regenerating particulate trap, and high pressure fuel system, how much is it going to cost to maintain that, and how much to fix when something breaks? It seems to me that could blow five years' fuel savings with one trip to the dealer.

2. What happens when people remove that emission control stuff? I hate following an old diesel car or truck, because of the smell (and the implied risk to health).

Has anyone seen the diesel enthusiast magazines that cover Powerstroke, Cummins, and Duramax pickups? One of them on the stands now has a comparison of modified pickups doing 11 and 12 second quarters with these trucks. Most of the action shots show huge clouds of black smoke.

I prefer gasoline.

 

Excellent point!

 

So he expects all new cars to be electric within 30 years? I'm gonna miss IC if that's the case. Though if they still make performance oriented vehicles, I supposed I could deal.