Diesel, Hybrid Sales Expected To Increase Sharply By 2015
The number of diesel-powered vehicles is expected to surge over the next few years as consumers flock to cars that produce exceptional fuel mileage. 
Combined with hybrid automobiles, U.S. sales could reach 17% by 2015 according to a study by J.D. Power and Associates which was published in The Detroit News today.
Besides the higher cost of fuel today, government mandated increases in fuel economy to a industry-wide fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020 is behind the anticipated rise in demand for fuel efficient vehicles. Automakers are also trending away from heavier vehicles in favor of a lighter fleet powered by four cylinder engines.
In order to reach the higher fuel numbers, consumers will have to pay for the technology. Adding $4-5000 to the cost of each vehicle, the technology is expected to help the automakers meet the increased CAFE numbers. CAFE stands for corporate average fleet economy, the measuring tool that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) uses to determine fleet compliance.
Toyota is promising to expand hybrid sales, hoping to reach at least 600,000 vehicles annually in the US alone. In addition, the big Toyota Tundra will be outfitted with a diesel, taking the edge off of the most fuel inefficient vehicle in the Toyota fleet.
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4 Responses to “Diesel, Hybrid Sales Expected To Increase Sharply By 2015”
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April 7th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
With diesel emissions pretty much under control thanks to new technology developed over the past decade, there’s no reason diesel cars and trucks shouldn’t dominate the roadways. I expect biodiesel-producing algae farms to become a common site in the near future.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Somebody somewhere needs to do an article on why diesel in North America costs more per gallon than gasoline. When I went to school, a long time ago, we learned that only a small part of a barrel of oil was gasoline grade, and the rest was pretty much heating oil or diesel fuel. By ‘cracking’ the diesel fuel, more gasoline could be obtained but this was a costly process. We also learned that very expensive additives had to be ‘added’ to gasoline so that it would burn without knocking in engines.
By my way of reckoning, diesel should be cheaper, since it doesn’t require the same ‘cracking’ process and as we all know, diesels do not require anti-knock compounds to be added to the fuel, another savings.So: Why is Diesel fuel more costly?