Honda Drops Diesel Idea - Focusing on Hybrids Instead

So very right. Honda proved it with the Accord hybrid. The fuel savings when added to the V6 were minimal at best. Thus its demise in the face of the TCH which arrived 9 mo's later.

 

I find it ironic that Honda ended diesel engine development just when Ricardo in the UK recently demonstrated an automotive turbodiesel engine using a special turbocharger/EGR system that reduces diesel emissions to meet EPA Tier 2 Bin 5 without needing special catalytic converters or urea gas injection into the exhaust stream.

Ricardo said that with a modern catalytic converter and particulate filter, this modified turbodiesel engine could even meet the ultra-stringent CARB Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) standard, a truly amazing achievement. We're talking essentially a diesel engine with the same low level of exhaust emissions as a gasoline engine tuned for low emssions!

(I believe the work was done on a modified Ford automotive diesel engine. Imagine the 2011 Ford Fiesta with the Ricardo system turobdiesel getting--oh, Prius-like fuel economy without the complexity of a hybrid drivetrain. And be certified as an SULEV vehicle.)

 

From what I read, Honda has completed the I4 and V6 versions of clean diesel.
However, the V6 has issue clearing the US emission rules, not the I4, which is A-OK.
Recently slump of economy has made Honda think twice about deploying even the I4 version on Acura TSX (original plan). Instead, they will slap a turbo (from RDX) on it.

The problem with the V6 is also related to the plasma generation. It seems that the amount generated is not enough in some situations causing it to fail the emission. Honda can always spend more money on it to pull it through, but again in light of the bad economy they chose to stop it for now.

Essentially, Honda is saying they stopped the deployment, not the abandoning the diesel technology for good.

 

Nissan now make an SUV, the 2.0GT clean diesel X-Trail, that passes the Japanese diesel pollution laws.

It costs 500,000 yen more than the gasoline one, but has more torque. Diesel is cheaper than gasoline in Japan, so it'll probably depreciate less too.

 

Won't they need to pass Euro V, VI, etc.. for the future? I would think they will continue to work on it for less stringent European market.

Maybe most of the Diesel sold in Europe are 4 cylinders.

 

Most engine period are 4 cylinders in Europe.

There is no doubt that Honda will continue to develop diesel engines for the European market. In Europe 50% of total vehicle sales are diesels so a manufacturer has to offer diesel vehicles to be competitive. Even Porsche has started offering diesels. Diesels only make up 3% of the US market so they are just a novelty like hybrids.

Euro 5 goes into effect Sept-2009 and Euro 6 in Sept-2014.

Diesels:
Euro 5: PM drops from 0.025 to 0.005 g/km making diesel particulate filters (DPF) mandatory.

Euro 6: NOx will drop from 0.18 g/km to 0.08 g/km. That makes a NOx Catalyst or Urea injection mandatory unless new injection technology is developed in the next 5 years.

Gasoline:
Euro 5: All direct injection engines will have to be tested for PM, regardless of whether they are diesel or gasoline engines. Currently some gasoline vehicles put out more PM than diesel vehicles with DPF's. We may start seeing particulate filters on gasoline cars.

Euro 6: No change at all for gasoline vehicles.

 

Compared to a normal transmission gear box, Prius’s HSD is not complex at all i.e. count the gears.

 

Yea, computers are very simple from mechanical point of view. It only has 3 moving parts. The cooling fan, hard drive, and optical drive. If you want to count the reading arms, there will be 5 moving parts.

 

You are talking old school, Dennis.
My 'puter does not a hard drive or optical drive.

 

JSH's comment that a large fraction of cars in Europe are diesel is correct, but it's worthwhile to note that with the notable exception of the UK, diesel manufacturers only do well in countries that subsidize diesel prices. Without that advantage, diesel's inferior fuel economy in the city compared to hybrids, and 'performance' advantage to a large degree negated by battery torque, time is on the hybrids side.

And of course, this is before we invoke pollution, cost of pollution control systems, higher maintenance costs of diesels, poorer reliability records, odor, problems in very cold weather, tendency to engine rattle (or cost to prevent it), and the technology curve in electronics and batteries that assure a rapid improvement in hybrids as well as decreases in cost.

The future of passenger cars is hybrid -> PHEV, unless something new and unexpected comes along. Diesel has it's place, and of course any fossil fuel is going to be utilized, but a worthy competitor to hybrid tech in cars -- nah

 

So let me get this straight...

You're comparing a sub-compact to a midsize sedan in fuel economy?

Complexity of the Hybrid Drivetrain? Complexity isn't the issue, reliability is the issue. Toyota's HSD has been more reliable than any Diesel counterpart.

Diesel's have their place... In countries that don't tax Diesel nearly as high as gasoline. Diesel takes 20% more crude oil per gallon to refine, making it a near wash when it comes to economies that are realized.