Diesel is not dead says VW

The world's biggest maker of diesel engines, Volkswagen, has a message for the world's biggest maker of hybrid cars, Toyota. Diesel is not dead.

In an interview with the Carsales Network at the Frankfurt Motor Show overnight Wolfgang Hatz, the head of powertrain development for the Volkswagen Group, said diesel engines were here to stay, and they still had ample room for improvement.

"Diesel is not just more cost effective than hybrid systems, diesel is much more cost effective than hybrid systems. I don't know how the calculation works in Japan. We know how our calculations work and we still believe there is a very bright future for diesel engines," Hatz told the Carsales Network.

According to the VW powertrain boss a diesel engine costs about 40 per cent more to produce than an equivalent petrol engine – but a hybrid system costs three times more than an equivalent petrol engine.

"You have the extra cost of the battery pack, the electric motor, the software etc," he said.

Back in July, the Carsales Network reported that the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota, believes diesel-powered cars could be priced – and regulated – out of existence by 2020.

The comments were made by Akihiko Otsuka, the chief engineer of the new Toyota Prius, who was visiting Australia for the launch of the new car.

By Toyota's calculations and research, he said, the cost to make diesel engines meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations would make them more expensive to manufacture and maintain than cars with petrol-electric hybrid drivetrains.

"The emissions [level] for diesel is defined already for Euro VI," Otsuka said. "The NOx restrictions will be much more severe. So, Toyota thinks, based on our latest research, that the cost to manufacture a petrol-based hybrid and a diesel powerplant is basically the same. But the cost to run a hybrid will be cheaper because there is less maintenance."

For a diesel engine to meet the new emissions levels it would need to be serviced between regular service intervals, Toyota asserts. But Volkswagen may have a solution for that.

"We have to say yes it is true at the moment our clean diesels have some extra cost, but we are working very hard to reduce this cost to an acceptable level," Hatz said.

"From our point of view what we see is that a diesel powertrain is much more cost effective than a hybrid system."

The VW executive said while the efficiency of petrol and diesel engines was impressive right now, there was more good news to come.

"There is still space for improvement in both petrol and diesel engines. At the moment, petrol engine consumption has come down dramatically thanks to direct injection. But we are developing a new generation of diesel engines that will reduce consumption even further.

"Looking back 10 or 15 years ago we thought the emissions regulations were really tough, but we have found solutions. Today we have diesel engines that already meet Euro VI. What we have done with the emissions of diesel engines is unbelievable. We never thought we could get a diesel as clean as it is today."

Both petrol and diesel fuels produce emissions that are harmful to our health, but diesel is considered a more serious pollutant.Both fuels produce similar amounts of hydrocarbons, toxic air pollutants and carbon monoxide, but diesel produces significantly more oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter.

In a bizarre twist, health authorities have recently expressed concern about the new generation of so-called "clean" diesels having particulate matter that's so small it can infiltrate the human body's natural defenses and get into the lungs, possibly causing cancer.

The Australian Government's Green Vehicle Guide says diesels are marked down because "their contribution to air pollution is generally higher than that of comparative petrol or LPG vehicles".

"Of most concern are particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx) which can cause a range of adverse health effects. These emissions are generally higher in diesel vehicles compared with petrol or gas vehicles."

Basically, unleaded fuel might be worse for the planet, but diesel fuel is worse for our health.

When we put these health concerns to Hatz, the VW boss stated: "There may always be some institute that will tell us these particulates are not good for health. But we have particulates all over the place. Dust in cities. If a car moves, just the sand on the road creates particulates.

"And we found out that the particulate issue is not the problem of the diesel engine. They made studies when there was no traffic in Munich. There is particulate matter in the air but it was nothing to do with diesels."

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