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The future of diesel ?


Butch

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Back in the late 90's /  early 00's Diesel in the UK was promoted as being the "best" option for new car buyers, it was encouraged by Gordon Brown who introduced a sliding rate of VED which encouraged cars which produce less CO2 as cheaper to tax. This , however, ignored the NOX and other particulates emitted by the vehicles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41985715

Anyway, that's the background and it was a loooong time ago. Diesels nowadays are less polluting and more efficient, but there is still a stigma attached to them in the UK at least (not sure about Europe).

Now is a good time to buy a secondhand diesel car if you intend to hold onto it. Resale values have dropped significantly, and depreciation seems to hit diesel cars more than their petrol counterparts. There are some real bargains to be had out there for someone looking for a diesel, and it may be at a point where any higher duty levied by the Govt will be outweighed by the cheaper cost of the car, much like a few years ago when petrol was hitting £1.38 a litre and dealers / traders couldn't give large displacement engined cars like Range Rovers and high end BMW / Merc / Lexus away. Some people snapped up a few deals then, a guy I know got a V8 BMW for the same price as a 2 years newer second hand Modeo.

In SEA Diesel is still popular and widely used, they also have a very good CNG network. For us it's a no brainer out there, Diesel Fortuner Automatic ticks pretty much any boxes that need ticking. In the UK at least, the rumours are that the Govt will try to "price them off the road" by increasing punitive VED rates, we will have to see, either way, in the UK many believe the future of diesel is looking bleak.

 

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I loved my 2006 VW Golf the first year I had it, but when I look back it was not worth the extra cost. Cost me a good $6k CDN more than the same gas model, almost $30k for a hatchback with no leather, plus financing was not the best. I used it a lot for work and personal, so the fuel savings were substantial....still took a huge hit when I sold it 6 years later. Was a great vehicle for road trips...best tank got me from the suburbs of Chicago to near Montreal on the NY side, 1300 km! Also remember getting 45MPG in the mountains of Montana going 85 MPH. Flatter ground @65 mph was more like 60mpg
But today I could not fathom owning a diesel. Before Covid, diesel was sometimes 30% higher than gas(it’s now ~ equal). Dad told me back in the 90’s, it was half what gas cost, $.30 CDN/L. Also, some of the costs on my ‘06 were outrageous, namely the timing belt. 
If we look at Tesla’s stock price, I think the world is telling us the future is with electric vehicles. Maybe by 2050 a Prius will be considered a guzzler the way things are going 

Edited by Golfingboy
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Got a diesel - will change it next year either to  full on petrol or a Hybrid and I’m quite liking the new Toyota RAV4 which is a bit of an older mans car but then I guess I’m moving into that bracket anyway ...lol

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On 8/4/2020 at 7:47 PM, AJSP said:

Got a diesel - will change it next year either to  full on petrol or a Hybrid and I’m quite liking the new Toyota RAV4 which is a bit of an older mans car but then I guess I’m moving into that bracket anyway ...lol

Jaguar do a nice hybrid, then again they do a nice V8 F Type ...

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3 hours ago, Butch said:

Tell that to Elon 😀

You're correct of course, Diesel trucks will always be here, they're getting cleaner and more efficient all the time.

I had three diesel full-sized pickups here in northern Canada in the '90s - two Fords and a Chev and they weren't a bad alternative at the time; these had mechanical injection systems, were reasonable to maintain and diesel tended to be somewhat cheaper at the pumps. Now they are all electronically controlled and repair costs can be hideous if you don't buy new-with-warranty - no way would I touch one of these things with lots of miles on them, and some were just plain lemons, like the Ford 6 liter motors of a  few years ago. The only way I would buy a full-sized diesel again is if I had a job for it.

Now if I could buy one of those smaller Asian trucks with the turbo'd, intercooled, etc. motors I may spring for one of those but they won't sell them in North America because of emission standards and the climatic conditions here. Diesel cars I have never been interested in, but my cousin in England had a diesel Audi Q7 a few years ago that was an amazing performer - but as soon as the warranty ran out, he  traded it off...nowadays he's driving a Tesla and just put a deposit on one of those incredibly ugly new Tesla pickups...

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5 hours ago, Butch said:

Tell that to Elon 😀

You're correct of course, Diesel trucks will always be here, they're getting cleaner and more efficient all the time.

i would love to see a battery car go thru a flood, I can only imagine the repair bill

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  • 5 months later...

We have both diesel and petrol cars at the moment, both coming up to 3 years old.

The petrol car (a seven seat Peuogeot 5008) eats fuel at around £75 per week and has done 44K miles and is due for a change, so we have decided to replace it with an electric vehicle and charge it at home.

I test drove a Kia Soul last week before lockdown struck and was really impressed on how it drove. The acceleration was very good at around 8 seconds to 60 mph, the torque was so good at low and high speeds and it stuck to the road well as I chucked it about. No noise from an ICE engine and it's spooklily quiet to drive in. It comes with a 68 KWH battery. Just get in, press start and away you go. It comes with an Iphone app, so I can pre set it to warm the car, demist the windscreen and heat the seats and steering wheel, all while I'm still in bed.

They say it will do 285 miles on a charge on mixed driving and up to 400 Miles in city driving.  In reality, driving it in winter with lights, hot air heating, heated seats and steering wheel etc, the range will be more like 250 miles on a charge, although that can be increased with the regeneration systems fitted to the brakes. We will have a charger fitted at home and charge it overnight on a cheap electric tarrif, at a cost of around £6 which will take around 9 hours on a 7.3 KW charger.

There are virtually no options to choose from as the car comes fully loaded with all the safety systems included and a 7 year warranty, which covers most evrything except wear parts. There is also a very good Hardon Karmen music system, which the wife will love.😊

Ok, they are not cheap at around £34K after the Government grant of £3,500, but I feel it's they way to go now and I'm placing the order next week, with delivery expected in March.

The other car, a deisel, has only done around 8K miles and we'll keep that, along with my V8 beast of a Jaguar, which only comes out in the summer now. 😎

I was wondering if EV cars are available in Thailand, or does cheap fuel there mean it's cheaper to stick with ICE vehicals?

 

 

Edited by KhunDon
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6 hours ago, KhunDon said:

We have both diesel and petrol cars at the moment, both coming up to 3 years old.

The petrol car (a seven seat Peuogeot 5008) eats fuel at around £75 per week and has done 44K miles and is due for a change, so we have decided to replace it with an electric vehicle and charge it at home.

I test drove a Kia Soul last week before lockdown struck and was really impressed on how it drove. The acceleration was very good at around 8 seconds to 60 mph, the torque was so good at low and high speeds and it stuck to the road well as I chucked it about. No noise from an ICE engine and it's spooklily quiet to drive in. It comes with a 68 KWH battery. Just get in, press start and away you go. It comes with an Iphone app, so I can pre set it to warm the car, demist the windscreen and heat the seats and steering wheel, all while I'm still in bed.

They say it will do 285 miles on a charge on mixed driving and up to 400 Miles in city driving.  In reality, driving it in winter with lights, hot air heating, heated seats and steering wheel etc, the range will be more like 250 miles on a charge, although that can be increased with the regeneration systems fitted to the brakes. We will have a charger fitted at home and charge it overnight on a cheap electric tarrif, at a cost of around £6 which will take around 9 hours on a 7.3 KW charger.

There are virtually no options to choose from as the car comes fully loaded with all the safety systems included and a 7 year warranty, which covers most evrything except wear parts. There is also a very good Hardon Karmen music system, which the wife will love.😊

Ok, they are not cheap at around £34K after the Government grant of £3,500, but I feel it's they way to go now and I'm placing the order next week, with delivery expected in March.

The other car, a deisel, has only done around 8K miles and we'll keep that, along with my V8 beast of a Jaguar, which only comes out in the summer now. 😎

I was wondering if EV cars are available in Thailand, or does cheap fuel there mean it's cheaper to stick with ICE vehicals?

 

 

I wonder in hot countries like Thailand what the heat impact would be on ev batteries, their life and range capacity. I say this as our wee Toyota in Thailand eats a normal petrol car battery every 3 ish years. 
 

I know nothing about EV cars but it’s just a hunch on the battery life. 
 

I don’t think we’d have an issue here in the UK

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Good question mate. 👍

I’d not thought too much about it, but are batteries not liquid cooled in some cars? I suspect someone will know. Also, most EV’s use Lithium Ion batteries, not the lead acid batteries found in most cars. 

I think I’ve heard that Tesla’s have to pre condition their batteries before  doing high speed runs, not sure if that involves heating or cooling though, but I think it’s the latter. 

 

Edit. Just Googled it and it seems that KIA’s batteries are liquid cooled and in colder climes, the heat from the batteries and other electrical components is recycled and used to heat the car interior, which saves on battery power, and the car is fitted with a heat source pump which take heat from the outside air and mixes it with the recovered heat and that also helps to heat the car. Apparently, it’s much more efficient than using battery power for a hot air fan. 

Edited by KhunDon
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