Blue Is The New Green
By Lawrence Ulrich
For luxury buyers who care about conservation or cutting fuel bills, the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec is simply unmatched. In our test, it achieved the mileage of a small car with a four-cylinder engine, and did so without skimping on the performance, comfort and features you expect from a Mercedes sedan.
The E320 Bluetec can achieve these feats because it has a diesel V6 engine.
Forget what you know about diesels: the chugging sound; the sooty, smelly exhaust; the lazy acceleration. The Mercedes E320 Bluetec is powered by a modern “clean diesel,” the kind found in more than half of the new cars sold in Europe. Thanks to a turbocharger and high-pressure fuel injection, the car is fast, quiet, refined and completely odor-free.
Strict federal exhaust emissions standards and the public’s outdated views of diesel technology have kept these vehicles from becoming as popular in the U.S. as they are in Europe. But a type of diesel fuel called ultra-low sulfur diesel has been a pivotal break in the barrier to wider adoption of diesel vehicles. This new diesel fuel has 97 percent less sulfur content — sulfur is one of the most problematic and toxic byproducts of diesel combustion and is often cited as a significant contributor to acid rain. Click here to read the full story.
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