Clean Diesel Are Coming: Behind the Wheel
By Mark Phelan
At 12:01 tonight, the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec will be the only 2007 model diesel car you can buy in the United States.
Tougher new emissions standards have knocked every other diesel car temporarily out of the marketplace, including those from popular diesel maker Volkswagen.
Trucks, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford F-250 and Chevrolet Suburban, will have '07 model diesels because they get a pass on new emissions restrictions for three years.
The E320 Bluetec's 3.2-liter V6 will be the cleanest diesel engine ever sold in America, and it delivers 0-60-m.p.h. acceleration of 6.6 seconds and EPA highway fuel economy of 37 m.p.g.
A five-passenger E320 Bluetec sedan can drive from Detroit to Manhattan on a single tank of fuel, said John Shipley, E-class specialist for Mercedes-Benz USA.
A Bluetec diesel will cost $1,000 more than an E-class midsize sedan with the base 3.5-liter gasoline engine, but that's the same price difference as last year.
VW says it will be back in the game with its 2008 models, but Mercedes has set an important precedent: Automakers can't jack up the price on the clean new diesels.
That's vital if Americans are ever going to take diesels seriously as a fuel-saving alternative.
I hope we do. Diesels are perfect for a lot of American drivers: They deliver the acceleration and trailer-towing ability we prize, and they use far less fuel than similar gasoline engines.
Compare the 208-horsepower E320 Bluetec to the 268-horsepower E350 gasoline-powered model.
The diesel's EPA fuel economy numbers of 27 m.p.g. city/37 m.p.g. highway are 42% better than the 3.5-liter gasoline V6's 19 and 26 m.p.g., and the bigger gasoline V6 hits 60 m.p.h. just 0.1 second quicker than the diesel.
There are strings attached, however. Mercedes' Bluetec diesels - it will use the name on a wide range of models, including its ML and GL SUVs - require ultra-low sulfur diesel, a superclean fuel that's just going on sale now.
Shipley says 80% of service stations that sell diesel are required to carry the new blend, but any shortages will keep buyers away. The ultra-low sulfur diesel will also cost more, at least initially, than the old diesel.
As clean as it is, the E320 Bluetec won't pass emissions tests in California, New York and several other states. Extra equipment on Bluetec engines coming out with '08 models will make them the first diesel cars in years that can be sold throughout the United States.
Honda will sell a four-cylinder diesel engine - probably in the Accord, its best-selling model - here in 2009. That engine will also be 50-state compliant.
GM's high-tech diesel V8 will probably debut the next year, when U.S. limits on diesel emissions become the toughest in the world. That engine will debut in an SUV or pickup, but look for GM to roll it out in passenger cars as well.
Mercedes gets there first at midnight, but it looks like it will have plenty of company as diesel engines finally take hold in America.
www.freep.com
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