This post is not meant to say anything bad about GM, in fact, I believe that GM has been doing a pretty good job lately of cleaning up their act. I guess history is hard to forget, though, because GM has taken some flak recently due to the name of one of their websites: whygas.com

This site will soon be changed to whygasengines.com to better "match the site's purpose," according to Greg Martin, a spokesman for GM, acknowledging "the irony of the name." The site uses quotes such as "Our Gas Engine. Powerfully cost-effective" and "the advantages of gas. Why gas? Learn more".

The site says the "Advantages of Gas" are:

• Gasoline engines cost less than diesel engines
• Gasoline is more readily available
• Quiet Operation
• Good solution for lower-mileage applications
• Easy to service
• Fast cab heater warm-up

However, the site also shows the better emissions of their newest diesel engines as compared to their earlier efforts. But, understandably due to the mission of the site, it does not mention any drawbacks of gasoline engines.

Gasoline engines are being promoted by GM in some of their medium duty applications, and the engine cited is usually their Vortec 8.1 liter giant. I think that this goes on to prove what I said in my recent editorial: All carmakers will build and advertise what sells in a specific market. This includes large gasoline-burning eight cylinder engines in trucks from GM, Ford, Toyota and Nissan... and that's not likely to change any time soon.

[Source: Whygas.com via Detroit News]

Volkswagen Group has previously announced their intention to incorporate the BlueTec diesel emission control equipment developed by Mercedes-Benz. Now they've released some details on the BlueTec equipped Jetta that's coming for 2008. The new version has a 2.0 L four cylinder common rail diesel that complies with all the latest Tier 2/Bin 5 regulations making it legal in California and 49 other states. Those standards limit nitrogen oxide emissions to 70 mg/mile and this is achieved by adding a urea injection system to the exhaust. The only problem is that the urea has to be replenished periodically, at every other scheduled service according to the article which presumably come at 5,000 mile intervals. The full VW press release is after the jump.

Correction: After re-reading the release it appears that the Jetta doesn't get or need the urea injection system. Instead, it has a NOx resevoir catalyst that stores the NOx and periodically switches up the engine management system to treat the NOx and release the nitrogen and oxygen. Only the larger engines in the Passat and other models will use the urea system.

[Source: Volkswagen]

While most customers don't need to worry about exactly what the emissions standards are for their diesel vehicles, manufacturers and those keeping a strict eye on CO2 emissions do. For consumers, the upcoming stricter standards on diesel vehicles in the United States mean cleaner, more efficient cars. For manufacturers and engineers, it means figuring out how to stop the CO2 from getting into the air. How much CO2, you ask, well, that's what the Tier 2 regulations tell us (Tier 2 regulations apply to not only large vehicles, but also cars, minivans and light-duty trucks).

If you're interested in exactly how much CO2 is allowed to come out of the tailpipe of new diesel vehicles, DieselNet should be your source of information. Instead of duplicating what Dieselnet has done so well, I suggest you check out their site for charts of all the standards, recently updated.

[Source: Dieselnet]

Toyota is working on ultra-clean diesel engines independently from their recent hook-up with Isuzu. Similarly to the United States and Europe, Japan is introducing stricter emissions requirements for diesel engines for 2009. The new regulations in Japan require particulate emissions of one-third of what is currently allowed there, and one-fifth of what is currently allowed in Europe. Starting in the second half of 2008, Toyota intends to install their new engines in Europe, where forty percent of their sales are already diesels. Toyota has improved emissions through improved fuel injection nozzles and new catalyst technologies to reduce both particulates and nitrogen oxide emissions.

[Source: Asahi.com]

DaimlerChrysler announced Monday that the company will stop making the diesel Jeep Liberty SUV for sale in the U.S., despite better-than-expected sales in 2005. According to the Detroit News, the compact SUV's engine doesn't meet new tough federal emissions standards that will kick in next year and Chrysler didn't want to put a newer engine into the Liberty. A Chrysler spokeswoman told the Detroit News, "The emission standards are becoming very stringent, and we weren't able to make a credible business case for a limited production vehicle."

The company is not giving up on diesel altogether. A diesel version of the Grand Cherokee SUV is coming in 2007. Diesel Liberty vehicles, which are built in Toledo, will still be sold in Europe. The new diesel regulations have also affected Volkswagen, which recently announced they would not release any diesel versions of their Jetta, Golf or Beetle models in 2007.

[Source: The Detroit News]